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By Daucy Crizer

Special to the News

BEAUMONT — Amante Martin and Alex Eugene both rushed for over 100 yards, helping Memorial cruise to a 42-14 win over West Brook in District 9-5A Div. I action Friday night at Doggett Family Stadium.

“I thought the guys played pretty well,” said Memorial coach Brian Morgan. “We missed a run play in the first half when the quarterback had the long one and the turnover we had late in the first half. Two plays in the first half that we didn’t do things right. We wanted to have a really, really clean game. We have to have those clean games against good teams.”

Memorial improves to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in district play. The Titans return home to host Lufkin next Friday.

“Eugene is a nice compliment to Martin,” said Morgan of his running backs. “Amante runs so big and powerful, and just runs at you. Eugene is super shifty and super explosive. It’s just a good little mix.”

Martin led all rushers with 140 yards on 15 carries and scores two touchdowns. Eugene rushed for 113 yards on eight carries and one touchdown. Jordan Jones had a good night throwing the ball, completing 8 of 12 passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns.

“I thought Jordan (Jones) threw the ball well tonight,” said Morgan. “He made some strides last week and made even more strides tonight. That’s good for our long term and that’s what we were missing in the first half of the season, being able to throw the ball when we needed to. We have to keep building on that.

“Obviously, the running backs are really talented and if we get into heavy sets, which brings a lot of defenders into the box that you have to block. Just being able to throw it some, the RPO stuff and making good decisions. I thought he did a good with that today and it makes the other team have to defend the whole field.”

Leading 14-7, Memorial received the second half kickoff, but was unable to get anything going and was forced to punt the ball. Oscar Salgado’s punt pinned the Bruins at their own 9.

On West Brooks first play from scrimmage, Michael Riles hit quarterback Tam Anderson in the backfield, who fumbled the ball which was recovered by the Titans Quarmaine Garlington in the end zone for a touchdown. That put Memorial up 21-7.

The Titans defense rose to the occasion again on the Bruins next drive. After driving the ball to the 50 and facing a fourth-and-one, Anderson was stopped for no gain, turning the ball over on downs.

The Titans didn’t waste the opportunity. Jones hit Semaj Pierre for a 14-yard completion to the West Brook 41 on third-and-10. Jones followed two plays later with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Keavon Roberts to push the Titans lead to 28-7 with 4:04 left in the third quarter.

West Brook (3-4, 1-2) responded with a scoring drive of its own. Tavaris Bell had a 10-yard run to put the ball at the Memorial 40. Anderson hit Bryan Briggs for a 25-yard completion to the 6 on third-and-11. Bell scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-14 early in the fourth quarter.

The Titans added a pair of fourth quarter scores to close out the scoring. Martin scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with 7:26 left. Eugene scored on a 21-yard touchdown run with 1:47 remaining to provide the final margin of 42-14.

“That’s the one thing we were harping on all week with our guys because we really haven’t forced any turnovers the last couple of weeks,” said Morgan of his defense. “Being able to run the ball and play good defense is great, but forcing those turnovers is a big deal. We finally got some this week. It just helps get the ball back to the offense and builds momentum.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Memorial finally put together a scoring drive to put the first points on the board. Martin started the drive with a 35-yard run to the WB 23. Two plays later, Jones hit Payton Chaney on a 21-yard scoring strike to give the Titans a 7-0 lead with 9:06 left in the second quarter. The Bruins defender deflected the ball, but Chaney was able to haul it in before it hit the ground for a great catch.

WB’s Jaylon Dartez returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Bruins 46. But a bad snap led to a 13-yard loss and WB was forced to punt the ball away.

Memorial followed with its second straight scoring drive. Martin opened with 8 and 14 yard runs. Jones and Chaney connected for a 12-yard completion to the WB 47. Martin capped the drive, first with a 15-yard run and followed with a 28-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 14-0 with 1:57 left in the second quarter.

WB answered right back. Following an incompletion on first down from its own 31, Tam Anderson called his own number and raced 69 yards for a touchdown. That made the score 14-7 with 1:30 left in the opening half.

Memorial had designs on scoring again before halftime. Starting at its own 25, Eugene ripped off a 45-yard run to the WB 30. Jones kept the ball himself and rushed for 8 yards before fumbling, which was recovered by the Bruins Kailon Walker to end the scoring threat.

The Titans took a 14-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

THE PLAY OF THE GAME WAS…
Memorial’s Quarmaine Garlington’s fumble recovery in the end zone early in the third quarter that pushed the Titans lead to 21-7. Michael Riles hit WB quarterback Tam Anderson in the backfield to force the fumble.

THE GAME BALL GOES TO…
Amante Martin and Alex Eugene will have to split the game ball in half. Martin rushed for 140 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns. Eugune added 113 yards on eight carries and one touchdown.

KEY STATS…
Memorial’s Payton Chaney had three catches for 48 yards and a touchdown. Keavon Roberts had two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. West Brook quarterback Tam Anderson completed 7 of 11 passes for 77 yards. He also rushed for 131 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown. Tavaris Bell added 68 yards rushing on 18 carries and one touchdown. Jaylon Dartez had five catches for 46 yards.

UP NEXT…
Memorial returns home to host Lufkin next Friday at 7 p.m. in a key district showdown. West Brook is the road team next week when they face cross-town rival United Friday at 7 p.m.