Harmon power, PNG defense pave way to bidistrict win

Published November 14, 2009 01:08 am -

Harmon power, PNG defense pave way to bidistrict win

By Tom Halliburton
The Port Arthur News

BAYTOWN – Barbers Hill’s offensive players could have jumped on that crowded mess called Interstate 10 and returned to Mont Belvieu right when the bands played.

Port Neches-Groves simply was not going to let Barbers Hill’s offense do anything more than run out of the dressing room after halftime.

With Caleb Harmon tying his season high of 40 carries, and surpassing the 1,800-yard single-season rushing mark, the Indians’ defense turned out the lights on Matthew Viverette and the Eagles 21-7 Friday night before 13,413 in

Stallworth Stadium.

PN-G’s first football playoff victory in two years was a hard-earned 4A Division 2 bidistrict verdict that was tied for a half. Barbers Hill (5-6) would not go down without a good fight – a credit to coach Don Price’s Eagles.

When D.J. Schexnider, Taylor Thompson, Kane Benoit and company finished their busy night of pursuit and gang tackling, Barbers Hill gained two first downs and 19 total yards in a mere 5:43 of second-half possession time.

The Indians (11-0) played keep away in the second half and the Eagles had the ball too little to get used to it.

“I didn’t think we made a whole lot of adjustments,” Indians chief Brandon Faircloth reflected. “Our defense just stepped up in the second half. It was about our will and determination…. And I always feel good about putting the ball in Harmon’s hands.”

PN-G will meet Brenham in next weekend’s 4A Division 2 area round. The Cubs walloped Manor 49-14 on Friday night in their bidistrict game at College Station. Faircloth and Brenham head coach Glen West were expected to finalize plans sometime today.

The only stat an Indians’ fan really needed on this nice playoff night was time of possession. PN-G dominated it, 29:48 to 18:12. Yet Barbers Hill had a 7-7 tie at half and led in possession time back then, 12:29 to 11:31.

That’s before PN-G’s defense applied a second-half scalping and the Indians’ offensive line decided to take over the game completely.

“They weren’t easy and we had a little frustration about it coming out of halftime,” huge left guard Gabe Langlois said. “We knew we had to step it up. We knew we were better than them and that we had a lot more heart in the second half.”

PN-G ran the ball 48 times for 206 yards and Harmon’s 40 for 205 could be attributed to timely trapping efforts from guard Brant Boudoin and blocking back Ryan St. Clair on frequent journeys into Barbers Hill’s defense.

The Indians also had the slightly more successful aerial show, even though Indians’ junior Brennan Doty and BH’s Viverette compiled very similar numbers. The PN-G passer threw to six different receivers and only a few snags kept the Indians from winning this game much more decisively.

“I thought we moved the ball well all night,” Faircloth said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot. But everything we looked at was working.”

Doty completed 18 of 29 for 153 yards, and tossed one interception into a tricky Eagles’ zone blitz. There were times when Doty looked extremely sharp. There were also times when the Indians may have turned too flashy for their own good.

A 65-yard, 12-play series ended with Harmon’s first of three scores on the opening snap of the second quarter. Barbers Hill quickly answered with a touchdown set up by somewhat of a busted play.

Viverette fumbled the ball momentarily, reclaimed it and pitched it to Carter Smith who galloped 48 yards to the Indians’ 8. A quick six-yard Viverette pass to Wade Duke made it 7-all with 9:47 left in the half.

The Indians replied by roaring to the Eagles 6 before a holding penalty on a double reverse caused the offense to settle for a 29-yard field-goal try. Zach Rhame’s kick sailed too low.

Harmon watched the ball get jarred from his hands to end the Indians’ opening second-half drive. He capped off a 73-yard series with a 10-yard trap run behind Brant Boudoin with 1:30 left in the third quarter.

The Indians merely had to play keep away and take away after that. Fourth-quarter picks by Dre Dunbar and David St. Clair shut down Viverette’s comeback hopes. Langlois and Ryan St. Clair cleared a path for Caleb’s final two-yard run with 2:07 to go.

Inside LB coach and undefeated JV boss Ryan Cox pointed out his defense’s simple strategy for handling Barbers Hill’s versatile quarterback – just keep him in front of the Indians’ defense.

“We just wanted to keep Viverette in front of us,” Cox said. “He’s a great player, no doubt about it. We said, ‘don’t give up the big play’ and we did that.”

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