PORT NECHES — Port Neches-Groves sophomore Roschon Johnson welcomed himself to The Reservation in a big way Friday night at the expense of the Silsbee Tigers.

Johnson had five first-half touchdowns and led the Indians to a 54-27 victory over the Tigers.
He finished with 75 rushing yards on eight carries with three scores and threw for 154 and two touchdowns on 9-of-12 passing with no interceptions.

If Johnson was nervous at all, it never showed.

“It felt nice,” Johnson said. “We got into a rhythm early and kept rolling. It was very important to get the run game going early. I never got into a rhythm in the scrimmages passing without being able to run. I felt like tonight I was able to do both.

“I was pretty nervous coming in, but as I got into the game I settled down and did my thing.”
Coach Brandon Faircloth got the quarterback into a rhythm by throwing a quick pass on his first attempt for a 3-yard gain to Preston Riggs.

Riggs was then hit for a 22-yard gain, and the points started to come in bunches for the Indians. Riggs led the Indians with 115 yards receiving on six catches and had one touchdown.

Johnson ended the first drive with a 9-yard quarterback keeper.

“What Roschon does is a collection of our offense being on the same page,” Faircloth said. “Roschon had a good night tonight. He will tell you, too, it has to do with all the 11 guys on offense. He got the ball to his playmakers, he made good decisions and that is what we ask him to do. Obviously he can pull the ball down, run and make some plays which for me is fun to watch.”

Johnson scored the Indians’ first three touchdowns with his legs after back-to-back 1-yard runs. His third touchdown on the ground came with 5:43 left in the second quarter and gave PNG a 19-8 lead after two failed PATs.

The Indians rush offense gained 269 yards on 34 carries and was led by junior Preston Hughes’ 162 yards on 18 carries.

Hughes scored three touchdowns, one being a 26-yard pass from Johnson with 1:38 left in the first half to put the Indians up 32-14.

“This feels great,” Hughes said. “Our offense showed up and our defense showed up. It felt great to come out to The Reservation. It was good watching Roschon out there. He has always been great and know it is showing. We are proud of him.”

The PNG defense was tested against a very powerful Silsbee offense. The Tigers rode the legs of former Ozen star Calvin Tyler Jr. to 221 rushing yards. Tyler had 167 on the ground with three touchdowns. He scored from 11, 22 and 26 yards out.

“[Defensive coordinator] Coach [Dustin] Templin did a great job game planning for this one,” Faircloth said. “That is a great football team. Our hats go off to them. We got up on them early and we knew they were not going to sit back and let us do that to them.”

PNG’s defense limited Silsbee to 37 yards and defensive lineman Luke Morris came away with a fumble recovery.

Senior Logan LeJeune was another standout on defense for PNG. LeJeune had three straight tackles in three plays during one Silsbee three-and-out and capped it with a 13-yard sack on Tigers quarterback Willie Jones.

Johnson’s first career passing touchdown went to Riggs.

The Tigers gambled on fourth-and-one on the Indians 39 and PNG’s defense won the battle.
Johnson then connected with Riggs for a 39-yard touchdown strike.

The sophomore signal caller took two series off to start the second half with leg cramps. The time off the field gave junior Austin Bost time to show why Faircloth calls him “the best backup quarterback in the area.”

Bost had 44 yards on 4-of-5 passing and rushed for 26 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown run. He showed off his toughness by leaping a Silsbee defender during one play.

The Indians return to the field Thursday with a road trip to face Goose Creek Memorial. Tomball Memorial defeated Goose Creek 33-0 Friday.

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Gabriel Pruett: 721-2436. Twitter: @PaNewsGabe