By Daucy Crizer
Special to The News
PORT NECHES – Quarterback Roschon Johnson made sure it was going to be a good homecoming game for the Indians.

The junior passed for 299 yards and accounted for five touchdowns as Port Neches-Groves cruised to a 59-21 win over Baytown Lee in District 22-5A action Saturday night at The Reservation.

Johnson completed 18 of 25 passes for 299 yards and four touchdown passes, which were to four different receivers. He also rushed six times for 77 yards and a touchdown. PNG rushed for 258 yards and amassed 557 yards of total offense.

“We were able to spread the ball around to a lot of different receivers, that’s what I was most proud of tonight. Getting a lot of people involved in the offense and getting the ball to a lot of different people,” said PNG coach Brandon Faircloth. “We were trying to keep their defense on their heels that way.

“I thought our defense played really well. They (Lee) have some really good offensive players and we did a good job of holding them down. I thought we were really good on special teams. We had a couple of returns for touchdowns that were called back on penalties, so we need to clean that up a little bit. I’m really excited about our special teams.”

Trailing 45-7 to start the third quarter, Lee came out and scored the first points of the second half on its opening drive. Quarterback Ijenea Wooley hit Montrel Motton for 18 yards on third-and-8 to keep the drive alive. Wooley capped the drive with a 44-yard scoring run to make the score 45-14.

PNG (4-0, 3-0 in 22-5A) responded with a scoring drive on its first possession of the third quarter. Jose Ceja capped the eight-play drive with a 47-yard run that featured several broken tackles as he slipped through the defensive line and raced to the end zone. That pushed the Indians lead to 52-14 with 3:05 remaining in the third quarter.

Lee put together its most sustained drive of the night, covering 75 yards in 15 plays that started in the third quarter and ended early in the fourth quarter. The Ganders did all of the damage on the ground with Wooley calling his own number on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to make the score 52-21 with 9:22 remaining in the game.

The Indians closed out the scoring mid-way through the fourth quarter. Johnson marched PNG down the field with precision, completing passes to three different receivers. Cooper Hammond was the recipient on successive completions of 6 and 17 yards to put the ball at the Ganders 24. Johnson connected with Kaleb Wuenschel on a 19-yard pass play to close out the scoring and push the lead to 59-21 with 6:25 left.

Ceja led the ground attack for the Indians, rushing for 111 yards on nine carries and two scores.

Jaylan Williams added 27 yards on seven carries, all in the fourth quarter, and Preston Hughes chipped in 25 yards on six totes. Hughes was the top target of Johnson, hauling in five passes for 97 yards. Riggs caught four passes for 83 yards and Stansbury added 37 yards on three grabs.

“They are very well coached and have good players and their team speed is something that we haven’t seen yet,” said Faircloth of Friday’s matchup with Memorial. “We’re going to need to have a great week of practice. They’re a great team. We’re going to try to play our best game of the season next week.

“It means a lot to get back on a Friday night schedule, both for the players and coaches. It’s good to have routine. The players appreciate it and the coaches appreciate it. Hopefully, that will settle us down a little more.”

It took the Indians until their second drive of the game to get on the scoreboard. Johnson took matters upon himself and scored from 39 yards out to put PNG 7-0 with 6:22 left in the first quarter.
The Indians took advantage of a fumbled snap from Lee, which was recovered by David Minter, to set up shop at the Ganders 29. The drive stalled and the Indians had to settle for a 31-yard field goal from Riggs to make the score 10-0 at 3:42 of the first quarter.

An interception by Santiago Agudelo gave PN-G the ball at the Lee 23. The Indians wasted little time as Ceja capped a quick six-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to put PN-G up 17-0 with 1:46 left in the first quarter.

The Ganders closed out the scoring in the opening quarter on quarterback Wooley’s 45 yard scoring run on fourth-and-three to make the score 17-7.

PNG blew the game wide open with touchdowns on all four possessions in the second quarter. Johnson hit Riggs on a 53-yard scoring strike on the first play of the second quarter to push the lead to 24-7.

The Indians kept the offense rolling with a five-play, 73-yard scoring drive. Johnson and Riggs connected for a 16-yard gain to the PNG 38. Johnson hit Wuenschel for 17 yards to the Lee 45. Johnson capped the drive with a 45-yard scoring strike to Hughes to make the score 31-7 with 9:33 left in the second quarter.

It was more of the same for the Indians on their next possession. Johnson hit Hughes for 22 yards. Ceja rushed for 27 yards. Riggs capped the quick scoring drive with an 18-yard end around to push the lead to 38-7.

PNG closed out the scoring with another three-play scoring drive just before halftime. Johnson started the drive with a 16-yard completion to Hughes and capped the drive with a 17-yard scoring strike to Cameron Stansbury to make the score 45-7 at halftime.

Wooley led the charge for the Ganders, completing 6 of 16 passes for 69 yards. He led all rushers with 134 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns. Davis rushed 10 times for 25 yards. Motton hauled in three passes for 60 yards.