PORTER — Teajawon Mack took a jet sweep 73 yards on the opening play from scrimmage, giving Port Arthur Memorial quite the omen.

Mack was tackled 2 yards shy, but Memorial finished the drive with a touchdown, and Elijah Hines scored on two short runs, propelling the Titans to a 41-7 win over Kingwood Park in Friday’s 5A Division I bi-district game at Texan Drive Stadium.

“We know how important it was to come out and get off to a quick start,” Memorial coach Kenny Harrison said. “We’ve done that the last couple of weeks, and our kids embraced that.”

The Titans will face Galveston Ball at 4 p.m. next Friday at Challenger Columbia Stadium in Webster. Ball defeated Houston Austin on Friday.

Memorial (8-1) came out attacking with the jet sweep on three of its first five offensive plays. Hines, who finished with 19 carries for 83 yards, took a zip pass 41 yards down to the Panthers’ 2 and rushed from there to give the Titans 14-0 lead just 5 minutes, 9 seconds into the game.

That may have been another omen. Memorial scored twice within the first 4 minutes of the second half.

Defensive back Kam Nixon, who had two takeaways, took an interception back 49 yards to the KP 5. Following a penalty, quarterback Keitha Jones kept it 10 yards to make it 28-7.

“I knew our defense would dominate their offense,” Harrison said. “That was our game plan, to put them in a hole early and just play great defense.”

Nixon had missed four games with a left shoulder injury he sustained against Lumberton.

“It’s good now,” he said. “I’m ready to go.”

Hines had 68 yards on 14 carries at the half. His second 2-yard TD came with 4:22 left before the break.

Kobi Martin blocked a punt on KP’s next series and returned it 20 yards to extend the lead to 35-7.

The Panthers (5-4) gained only one first down combined on its first three drives and fumbled away after two holding penalties against the Titans buoyed their fourth series. Jacob Washington recovered and returned the fumble 33 yards to the Panthers’ 17, and Memorial scored three plays later.

Nixon recovered another fumble for Memorial, but Bryson Jackson blocked a punt and returned it 20 yards to end the shutout, 21-7.

Memorial melted more than 6 minutes off the clock on its final possession and went 60 yards in 14 plays, ending with Kameron Ladia’s 10-yard pass to Xavier Hull, playing in only his third game since transferring back from The Woodlands.

“I feel like today wasn’t even our best,” said Jones, who finished the game 8 of 18 for 149 yards with an interception. “I feel like we were about 75 percent. I feel like we can be even better. Once we get even better, we can be more dangerous.”

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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews