Want to know how long Kenny Harrison has been looking forward to Port Arthur Memorial’s rematch with Vidor? A year, of course.

The stakes of last year’s game at Vidor were high. If Harrison’s Titans won, the District 22-5A championship was theirs, all to themselves. Unbeaten regular season, done.

Instead, Vidor won 31-21, and the Pirates shared in the title with Memorial and Port Neches-Groves.

“Just the way the district season ended a year ago, it was a tough pill to swallow,” Harrison said. “I wouldn’t be right if I told you I haven’t been looking forward to this game.”

Memorial can only hope to avenge last year’s defeat and have Nederland — which is fighting for a playoff spot in Week 11 for the second year in a row — upset unbeaten Port Neches-Groves to earn its second straight share of the 22-5A crown. But the game itself is much bigger.

“For the seniors, it’s our last home game,” quarterback Keitha Jones said. “I feel like, we haven’t lost at home in two years, and we’re trying to keep it that way. We just have to come out focused and make sure what happened last year doesn’t happen again.”

Adding emphasis to Friday night’s Memorial Stadium season finale is the resurgence of both programs from the events of Tropical Storm Harvey.

The Titans and Pirates were missing some players due to displacement and began classes days later than many of their neighboring schools. When the District 22-5A executive committee released a compressed portion of its combined football schedule in September, Memorial agreed to trade an off-date with Vidor to give the Pirates more time to prepare for the season.

Vidor began its season on Sept. 26, the second date of the compressed schedule. Memorial is coming off its bye week.

“I wanted to give everybody a chance to play, and I wanted our kids to play,” Harrison said. “It worked out for the best. Our kids answered the call, having to play a week early.”

To put in perspective, not all of Vidor’s players are staying in Vidor. Yet, nothing has kept them from being a playoff team for the second year in a row.

“They make me so proud,” 19th-year Pirates coach Jeff Mathews said. “When you think about it, many of them are sleeping in hotels and some drive back and forth from the hotels in Jasper. They come back and they practice, they work hard, and they are going to finish the season. I’m proud they’ve made the playoffs, but I’m more proud of the fact they’ve overcome adversity.”

Adversity hit Mathews just as hard. His home was severely damaged by Harvey, but as he rebuilds it, he borrows a friend’s travel trailer if he’s not saying in either his office or a hotel.

“It’s been the craziest year I ever coached,” he said.

But both teams are playing now. And the Pirates are just a game behind the second-place Titans, both teams already qualified for the 5A playoffs beginning next week.

“It’s kind of weird timing, but regardless of what happens, we’re in,” Mathews said. “For Vidor, it’s a chance to play a really good football team. It’s a chance to see how we stack up with one of the best teams in the state.”

For the Titans, it’s a test of their own against the Pirates’ vaunted Wing-T offense, which produces 451 yards per game. Three of Vidor’s running backs, led by senior Hogan Stogner (845 yards and 11 touchdowns), are among the top 15 rushers in 22-5A.

“We already know it’s going to be the most physical game of the season, so right now, we’re just going over everything from the point of attack,” Memorial defensive lineman Braydon Williams said. “We’ve got to throw the first punch. We know how Vidor’s offensive line likes to get after it. We heard they have a lot of things going on, so right now, we’re learning to go straight and hit them first.”
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews