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By Chris Moore

Special to The News

Despite only holding a lead for just over six minutes of game time, the Port Neches-Groves Indians advanced to the regional final with a 31-28 win over Texas High School at Northwestern State University in Louisiana on Friday.

With just over a minute left to play and leading 31-28, PNG blocked a 33-yard field goal to lock up the victory.

The go-ahead score for the Indians came by way of a 7-yard touchdown run by Mason Wuenschel with 4:01 left in the game. He recorded three TDs on the night (two rushing and one passing).

However, the game started out with Wuenschel making plays on defense, forcing a fumble on the first play of the game to give PNG the ball at the Texas 42. The Indians showed what type of game they wanted to play by running the ball eight-straight times. The drive was capped off by the senior that started it with Wuenschel plowing his way into the endzone on a 3-yard run. A botched extra point kept the game at 6-0 with 8:39 left in the first quarter.

Extra point problems plagued PNG all night with three extra point misses and one failed two-point conversion.

PNG didn’t hold their initial lead long as Texas High School used six plays to cover 70 yards and capped off the drive with a 23-yard run to take the lead.

Both teams exchanged punts before PNG marched back into Texas territory only to miss a 44-yard field goal short, giving the ball to the Tigers at their own 27 with 1:07 left in the first quarter.

The next play, the Tigers came up with a deep pass that went 73 yards for a score to go up 14-6.

The Indians didn’t back down as they responded with a 5-play drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run. The extra point was no good, leaving the score 14-12 in favor of Texas with 10:07 left in the half.

The PNG defense wasn’t done with takeaways, ending a promising Texas drive with an interception on a deep pass into the endzone. However a huge sack and a 15-yard loss ended the ensuing drive with a punt. PNG’s inability to stop the Tigers’ big plays struck again as Texas scored on a long run to grow their lead to 21-12 with 4:13 left in the first half.

The Indians’ fortune took a turn for the worse as a big pass from Connor Bailey to London Nunley got PNG inside the Texas 5-yard line but a Texas defender stripped the ball and recovered with less than a minute left in the half.

PNG came out of halftime with a renewed sense of purpose capping off a nine-play drive with a 35-yard run up the middle for a score to make the game 21-18. The extra point was no good. On top of being able to reestablish the offense, the Indians ate away nearly half of the third quarter.

Texas responded with a big drive of their own but despite getting the ball down to the 5-yard line, the PNG defense held strong and forced a short field goal, which was missed with 2:15 left in the third quarter.

After seven plays, the Indians faced a fourth and short. As they have all night, PNG brought out their wildcat package with Wuenschel taking the snap. After taking a few steps forward, Wuenschel found tight end Layden Williams all alone for a 20-yard score to give PNG a 24-21 lead with 9:53 left in the game.

However, the excitement on the PNG sideline was short lived as Texas scored three plays later on a 65-pass to go up 28-24 with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter.

PNG took the final lead with the Wuenschel score and the Indians held on with the blocked field goal on the ensuing drive.

PNG will face South Oak Cliff in the regional final. Details about when and where the game will be played were not immediately available. PNG previously played South Oak Cliff in the previous two state championship games.