By Daucy Crizer

Special to the News

HOUSTON — Memorial scored in all three phases of the game in routing Galena Park 70-0 in Region III Class 5A-Division I bi-district football playoff action Friday night at Galena Park ISD Stadium.

Memorial improves it record to 8-3. The Titans will play the winner of the Angleton vs. Pflugerville Weiss game next week in the Area round of the playoffs. Day, time and location are to be determined.

“I thought the guys came out and played well,” said Memorial coach Brian Morgan. “It was really important for us to focus on this game and not look ahead and I thought our guys did a good job of that. I thought our week of preparation was unbelievable and Tuesday was probably our best practice of the year. They performed really well on Friday night.”

The late season change of moving Amante Martin to quarterback has the Memorial offense looking more explosive. Now teams have to account for Martin and either Ja’coryn Baker or Alex Eugene in the backfield at the same time. Not to mention some talented wide receivers in Keavon Roberts and Semaj Pierre.

Martin was an efficient 3 of 4 passing for 129 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed five times for 24 yards. Eugene led all rushers with 155 yards on just six carries with two touchdowns. Baker carried six times for 33 yards and one touchdown. Back up Pierre Gray made the most of his playing time in the second half with 100 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown.

“We think our backs are good players and having Amante at quarterback changes some things for us. He brings another dimension,” said Morgan. “He threw the ball well, getting the ball to the receivers in space. The offensive line did a good job as well.”

The Titans amassed 462 yards of total offense, 317 yards rushing and 145 yards passing. In addition to holding the Yellowjackets off the scoreboard, the Titans defense allowed just 116 yards of offense and scored two defensive touchdowns.

“I’m sure there will be some things to clean up when we watch the game film, technique things, but the guys did their job. It’s important in games like this to go out and execute at a high level and not play down to the opponent and the guys did a good job of that tonight.”

Leading 42-0, Memorial’s Brandon Richards returned the second half kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. Gray was the feature back for the Titans in the second half and he carried the load with six carries, the last of which was a 1-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 56-0 at the end of the third quarter.

Memorial closed out the scoring with a couple more scores in the fourth quarter. After Gray carried four straight times for 76 yards, Jordan Jones capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run for a 63-0 lead.

The Titans weren’t quite done yet. GP’s Walter Mejia fumbled the ball, which landed straight into the arms of Memorial’s Michael Alpough, who returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to provide the final margin of 70-0.

“We’ll just have to wait and see who wins the other game tonight to see who we will play next week,” said Morgan. “Both teams are good. One team throws it a lot and the other runs it a lot. Both play sound defense. One is super athletic, and one is a little bigger. We’ll just have to figure out a way to win no matter who we play. Just keep the same preparation as we did this week.”

GP (7-4) received the opening kickoff and that’s about all that went right for the Yellowjackets in the first half. Forced to punt after three plays, Jamarquis Hudson blocked Ian Barboza’s punt and also recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. That gave the Titans a quick 7-0 lead two minutes into the game and they would never trail.

After the Titans defense forced another punt, Memorial’s offense finally got a chance to contribute. Eugene rushed for 12 yards on the second offensive play for the Titans. He followed with a 67-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-0 with 7:07 left in the first quarter.

GP was able to move the ball on its third possession. Quarterback Kendall Combs rushed for 35 yards to the Memorial 35. The drive stalled their and a Combs quick kick pinned the Titans at their own 8.

However, that didn’t seem to bother Memorial’s offense. Baker started the scoring drive with runs of 6 and 5 yards. Martin hit Keavon Roberts on an 81-yard scoring strike. Roberts shook off a would-be tackle down the right sideline on his way into the end zone, giving the Titans a 21-0 lead.

It was more of the same for Memorial in the second quarter. Eugene carried the load on the Titans next scoring drive. After consecutive runs of 5 yards each, he ripped off a 62-yard scamper to the GP 4. He scored on the next play for a 4-yard TD run to push the lead to 28-0 with 11:04 left in the second quarter.

The Yellowjackets ensuing drive went into Memorial territory. A 21-yard run by Cary Clay put the ball at the Titans 37. A holding penalty pushed GP back and the drive stalled. Another quick kick gave the Titans the ball at their own 6.

Once again, Memorial was able to put together a lengthy scoring drive. Martin connected with Semaj Pierre on back-to-back completions of 20 and 28 yards to the GP 23. Martin called his own number on a keeper for 11 yards to the 3. Baker scored two plays later on a 1-yard TD run to extend the lead to 35-0 with 2:05 remaining in the second quarter.

The Titans weren’t quite done scoring. The defensive front blew up the handoff attempt, forcing a fumble which was recovered by Hudson, who returned it 10 yards for a touchdown. His second of the game. That gave Memorial a 42-0 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

THE PLAY OF THE GAME WAS…
Jamarquis Hudson’s punt block and touchdown 2:08 into the game. He broke through the line of scrimmage, blocked the punt, and scrambled back to his feet and jumped on the ball in the end zone. That set the early tone for the game and the Titans would never trial.

THE GAME BALL GOES TO…
Junior running back Alex Eugene who rushed for a game-high 155 yards on just six carries with two touchdowns.

KEY STATS…
Memorial’s Semaj Pierre had two caches for 48 yards. Roberts had one catch for 81 yards and a touchdown. GP was led by quarterback Kendall Combs who completed 1 of 4 passes for 7 yards and rushed 13 times for 65 yards. Cary Clay rushed for 34 yards on eight carries. Andrew Cortes had five carries for 13 yards and one catch for 7 yards.

UP NEXT…
Memorial will face the winner of the Angleton vs. Weiss game next week in the Area round of the Region III Class 5A-Div. 1 playoffs.