PORT NECHES — Good defenses know how to adjust, but Port Neches-Groves didn’t have to for the second half against Port Arthur Memorial on Friday night.

“We felt like we were in pretty good shape most of the time,” defensive coordinator Dustin Templin said. “It was just tackling and getting used to that speed. We don’t see that on a week-to-week basis. We just talk to the guys about taking great angles and got to play as fast as they can with almost reckless abandon, but don’t be afraid to make a mistake. If they play as fast as they can, just screw up 100 miles an hour, and good things will happen.”

The result: PNG, which trailed Memorial 30-14 at halftime, held the Titans to six points and won 44-36 to take first place in District 22-5A.

“They’re a great team,” Indians outside linebacker Austin Bost said. “We went into the second half making some halftime adjustments. We had to make the key plays, and that’s what we did in the second half. We only allowed six points, and it was a great win.”

And Templin’s work has drawn high praise from his head coach and one of his linebackers.

“We have the best defensive coordinator in the state of Texas at PNG. I can assure you,” said PNG coach Brandon Faircloth, who’s had Templin as his defensive coordinator for all nine seasons at the helm. “I worked with coaches all over the state, and coach Templin is the best.”

Senior outside linebacker Austin Bost could only smile widely at Faircloth’s testament and concur.

“He’s the best. In practice he puts us through a game, and the key roles we all have to do. It’s his plan, and we all do what we can,” Bost said.

Memorial still garnered 531 total yards, including 300 on the ground. But PNG, which had a momentum boost thanks to two scoring drives linked to a successful onside kick, responded to a go-ahead series by the Titans and forced a three-and-out series and got the ball back on downs the last two.

“The other night, without going into X’s and O’s, it came down to effort and making those adjustments and the kids believing in what we do and believing in our plan, and the kids believing in themselves,” Faircloth said. “Yeah, we gave up some points in the first half, but you know what, it’s a two-half game, and we’ve got plenty of opportunity to come back. They did. Two fourth-down stops in the fourth quarter were pretty big.”

Templin said a lot of young players on his defense had to grow up quickly that night and did. His starting defense includes five seniors: defensive linemen Logan Hammonds, Sergio Ayala and Layne Mobley, and linebackers Alec LeBouef and Bost,

PNG’s defense ranks seventh in the nine-team District 22-5A at 355 total yards per game, but the Indians’ pass defense is second only to Memorial by 12 yards, having allowed 527. (Statistics from only one game from Beaumont Central, whose defense is ranked second, have been tabulated in the official district report.)

Templin continued to dial up a defense that runs a base 4-3 set when the Indians needed stops the most. He’s looking for his defense to rise up again when the Indians visit Vidor (3-1, 3-1 in 22-5A) on Friday.

“Honestly at halftime, there weren’t any adjustments scheme-wise,” he said. “Vidor is similar in the sense that they’re very physical. They’re different in the sense that they are not spread. Just like Memorial, what they do, they do very well. Every guy has to do their ‘1-11’. That’s the thing we’re preaching this week. Do your job and do your assignment and then go help somebody else out if you haven’t made the tackle by that point.”
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews