Sealed it with a kiss. Shea Adams shares inspiration behind celebratory gesture.
Published 6:24 am Monday, December 18, 2023
- Senior Port Neches-Groves playmaker Shea Adams blows a kiss to the crowd Saturday afternoon after scoring the Indians’ only touchdown in their state championship victory over South Oak Cliff in AT&T Stadium in Arlington. (Brian Quijada/Special to The News)
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The story behind the most famous kiss in Port Neches-Groves football history started with a conversation between a high school senior and his girlfriend.
But before we get there, let’s set the football scene.
The Indians were trailing South Oak Cliff 17-12 with less than four minutes remaining in their football season.
Senior offensive playmaker Shea Adams was in shotgun as the PNG wildcat quarterback.
It was third down, and the Indians were on the 2 yard line.
A wedge play was called from the sideline.
Adams anticipated the Bears defensive line going low and cutting the PNG offensive linemen, which meant if he wanted to get into the endzone, he would have to jump over them.
Shea Adams goes in for the winning touchdown. (Brian Quijada/Special to The News)
Luckily for Adams, a similar play had been called earlier in the state championship game, and he converted that 4th-and-short assignment by diving over the South Oak Cliff defensive line.
“South Oak Cliff was doing a great job with their defensive linemen cutting our center and not letting our center get any movement,” Adams told Port Arthur Newsmedia. “I was planning on just jumping to get in the endzone, but I saw from the outside that there was nobody out there, so I took the ball outside and just walked in the endzone.”
The six-point score immediately gave the Indians an 18-17 advantage with 3:32 remaining in the 4th quarter. It was PNG’s first lead of the second half and put a state championship within grasp.
AT&T Stadium in Arlington was rocking, so Adams knew just what to do.
Tens of thousands inside the home of the Dallas Cowboys and so many more at home in front of television screens watched as Adams casually looked to the endzone crowd and blew a kiss to the fans.
Port Neches-Groves High School was about to win its first state title in nearly half a century, satisfying generations of Southeast Texas sports fans, but this celebratory moment took on a personal meaning for Adams.
“Oh, god, so (Friday) my girlfriend told me if I scored I had to blow her a kiss,” Adams joked hours after the game. “She definitely gave me the idea.”
He did admit that his girlfriend was at the other end of the stadium, but it doesn’t take away from one of the coolest moments of a championship season.
Fun times
All supporters of Port Neches-Groves can celebrate the team with a championship parade, starting at 6:30 p.m. Monday.
A pep rally is planned for 7 p.m. Monday.
