PORT NECHES — Port Neches-Groves didn’t change anything in its gameplan after trailing 17-0, and it worked.

Urged to just keep playing, the Indians dug out of a 30-14 halftime hole in 4:07 and stormed back from another deficit to beat Port Arthur Memorial 44-36 Friday night before a near-capacity crowd at the Reservation.

As their reward, the Indians (5-0, 4-0 in 22-5A) sit alone in first place in District 22-5A.

Receiver Preston Riggs and quarterback Roschon Johnson each combined for four touchdowns, with Riggs throwing for two of them. His reverse pass to Cameron Stansbury from 30 yards out pulled the Indians within 17-14, and his throwback to Johnson went for 43 yards at the end of the third quarter, putting them ahead for the first time at 37-36 with the extra point.

Johnson completed 12 of 24 passes for 164 yards and rushed 21 times for 124 yards.

As if the Reservation crowd couldn’t be any more pleasantly surprised, four former Dallas Cowboys showed up for the opening coin toss and presented administrators from both Memorial and PNG with commemorative footballs. Doug Donley, Preston Pearson, Mel Renfro and Everson Walls are in the area to participate in a benefit golf tournament for Tropical Storm Harvey relief.

Shortly after, Memorial running back Elijah Hines was having his way against the PNG defense for the second time.

A year after turning in 303 yards and five touchdowns against the Indians, the senior racked up 210 yards and two scores on 26 carries. He had 161 yards on 16 first-half carries.

Memorial (4-1, 4-1 in 22-5A) failed to score on its last three possessions after scoring on its first three. PNG defensive back Tyler Jackson stopped Hines for a 6-yard loss to the Titans’ 44 on fourth-and-1, and PNG mustered its final first down before Johnson was stopped 2 yards shy of another at the 25 with 1:53 left.

Keitha Jones, who was 12 for 16 for 198 yards, ran for 9 yards on the next play and completed a 15-yarder to Tavian Gipson and 9-yarder to James Francis (six catches, 83 yards). He was hit on a 38-yard completion to Francis down to the PNG 6 with 27 seconds remaining and no timeouts left for either team.

Jones rushed for 2 yards and then spiked the ball with 18 seconds left. He went up the middle again to the PNG 2, but spiked the ball on fourth down with 1 second remaining, effectively ending the Titans’ hopes. PNG knelt down near its own goal line to end the game.

The Titans’ defense, which averaged fewer than 100 total yards per game going into Friday, kept District 22-5A’s leading offense scoreless on its first two drives.

Johnson had 105 yards on nine first-half carries, gaining 62 on a third-and-2 rush to put the Indians on the board after trailing 17-0.

PNG started its surge after halftime with a seven-play, 75-yard march capped by a Johnson-to-Riggs 17-yard score. Riggs then executed an onside kick to perfection, following the ball up the middle to the Memorial 48, and he hauled in a 34-yard pass from Johnson to set up the 1-yard sneak for the tie.

Hines had been well-contained in his past two games against Nederland and Lumberton, but he had no problem getting going against PNG. He broke a 28-yard run on the opening play from scrimmage. That drive ended in a 25-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Francis.

Jones completed 4 of 5 passes for 77 yards at the half.

Memorial had nice field position on its next two drives after holding PNG to successive three-and-outs. Kenny Pham connected on a 30-yard field goal, and with help from a 33-yard Hines reverse pass, the Titans went 51 yards to take its biggest lead on a 1-yard Hines drive on fourth-and-goal.

Riggs’ second touchdown catch with 8:11 left in the game went for 47 yards.
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews