BH tests No. 5 Indians once more

Published November 12, 2009 10:04 pm

CLASS 4A BIDISTRICT PLAYOFFS: PN-G VS. BARBERS HILL

By Tom Halliburton
The Port Arthur News

BAYTOWN -- Eleven Friday nights in rewind, these Port Neches-Groves Indians were battling their own first-game jitters more than any opponent.

Now in the present tense, the purple and white presses "play" once more and PN-G is again more concerned about its own behaviors than those of the opposition.

That's not intended to disrespect Barbers Hill any but here's the urgent click about pushing fast-forward to 10:30 tonight -- it can and will be all over for the loser of this Class 4A Division 2 bidistrict matchup.

PN-G (10-0) and Barbers Hill (5-5) both don't get to play next week. The playoffs force coaches and players everywhere to pick up their remotes and push ''input".

Caleb Harmon and his well-balanced offensive unit will want to press "power" while D.J. Schexnider, Nathan Raggio and Kane Benoit would rather pick up their clickers and push "stop."

PN-G and Barbers Hill return for a replay of sorts -- another 'first' on the potential carpet burns of Stallworth Stadium at 7:30 p.m... as for the carpet burns, hopefully the Indians will secure their remotes and press "skip."

You knew Aug. 28 was the start of something special as well as a 10-game season for these Indians and Eagles. You hope Friday the 13th does not mean the end of your season. The fact that Brandon Faircloth's Tribe won on Aug. 28 by only one point (21-20) should serve as sufficient motivation for PN-G (10-0) to leave its 20-4A district title trophy at home and focus totally on only a bidistrict trophy.

Faircloth has tried to inform his purple shirts that Barbers Hill does not care about PN-G's record, ranking, or its number of TV games. Coach Don Price's Eagles just want to keep on clicking.

"Our hard work has paid off for now but we've got to understand we're still in the middle of it," the Indians' chief said. "We don't have time to sit on our laurels. We're definitely a different team and so are they... Our kids understand we have a big task ahead of us to go beat them."

Memories from an unforgettable 25-22 double-overtime win at Beaumont Central enable Chief Brandon to dwell on both good and not-so-good items. Chief Brandon found it a rare feather in his bonnet to bounce back from a nine-point halftime deficit. Of course he would rather not watch his Faircloth Tribe fall behind by nine in the first half, too.

"It was a situation we hadn't been in before and I was very pleased with how we came out relaxed in the second half."

Faircloth also has seen his team's remarkable turnover ratio trimmed from plus 22 to plus 19 after back-to-back games against speedy defenses from Ozen and Central.

"We've done some things with the football that we probably shouldn't have done," he admitted.

PN-G's multitude of fans should like how the Indians led 20-4A teams in turnovers (plus 19), total defense (242.0) and placed second in total offense (344.5). They also have to tip their purple caps to Harmon, the 20-4A rushing champion for 2009 with 1,597 yards and a league-high 248 carries.

One little menu item in the PN-G/Barbers Hill rewind was the Barbers Hill defense kept Harmon under 100 yards for the only time all season. Caleb rushed for a season-low 92 yards on 22 carries against the Eagles on Aug. 28. He's gone over 100 on nine straight outings since then. A 63-yard outing would be enough to move Caleb from third to second on PN-G's all-time single-season rushing list.

Legendary Gordon LeBoeuf ran for 1,659 in 1954 and came back for a record-setting 2,150 in 1955. Harmon would have to gain 553 more yards in order to catch Gordon. The Barbers Hill coach never could press ''preview" and see Caleb's 1,597-yard regular season. There were clues to impress Price, though.

"We thought he was a hard runner and we saw that in thei scrimmages," the Barbers Hill coach said. "They have a good team and they execute extremely well with an outstanding offensive line.

"They're better than they were. They're a real solid ball club. They've earned the right to be ranked where they are."

Price is finishing his 11th head coaching season in Mont Belvieu. He's proud of the Indians' chief because Don has directed five undefeated seasons himself.

Senior Matthew Viverette easily was Barbers Hill's dominant threat as both a runner (945 yards) and a thrower (1,893 yards). District 19-4A's final official statistics also listed two Eagles receivers among the top three in receptions. Carter Smith and Wade Duke had 38 catches apiece.

Tonight's winner picks up the remote and presses "play" against the winner of the Manor-Brenham bidistrict game. Tonight's loser picks up the remote and presses "stop."

PN-GROVES VS. BARBERS HILL

When: Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Stallworth Stadium, Baytown

Records: Barbers Hill (5-5, 4-3); PN-G (10-0, 7-0)

At stake: Class 4A Division 2 bidistrict championship

Series: Port Neches-Groves leads 2-0

This year: Port Neches-Groves, 21-20

Internet: videostream Sat at noon on panews.com, pngindians.com, SETXsports.com

Radio: KCOL-FM 92.5

BARBERS HILL OFFENSE

QB -- Matthew Viverette (11)

RB -- Logan Stubbs (25)

IR -- Caleb Stork (17)

IR -- Jesse Morton (85)

WR -- Wade Duke (81)

WR -- Carter Smith (82)

LT -- Jeremy Neff (72)

LG -- Garrett Payne (74)

C -- Chris Fechner (50)

RG -- Tyler Gobert (60)

RT -- Jared Rincon (78)

PN-G DEFENSE

SE -- Taylor Thompson (42)

NT -- Dallas Davis (90)

WE -- D.J. Schexnider (33)

OLB -- Nathan Raggio (17)

ILB -- Christian Kerr (16)

ILB -- Kane Benoit (12)

OLB -- Blake Brooks (25)

LCB -- Aaron Brandom (6)

RCB -- Hunter Denzlinger (3)

SS -- Kyler Cross (23)

FS -- Dre' Dunbar (8)

PN-G OFFENSE

LWR -- Kyler Segura (5)

LT -- Kyler Nicotre (70)

LG -- Gabe Langlois (79)

C -- Klete LeBlanc (56)

RG -- Brant Boudoin (54)

RT -- Greg Lunceford (77)

RWR -- Spencer DeRon (19)

SLOT -- Blake Reyenga (10)

WB -- Ryan St. Clair (34)

QB -- Brennan Doty (18)

RB -- Caleb Harmon (7)

BARBERS HILL DEFENSE

LT -- Chris Frazier (26)

NG -- Ricardo Cavazos (67)

RT -- Azee Caldwell (62)

LOLB -- Jonathon Green (30)

ROLB -- Logan McSwain (28)

LILB -- Ryan Reuter (32)

RILB -- Sexton Cole (35)

LCB -- Perry Robinson (10)

RCB -- Ethan Jeffcoat (15)

FS -- Mitchell Hopper (40)

SS -- Stuart Hamlin (14)

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