Two big guns to fire at Reservation

September 2, 2010

Tom Halliburton
CNHI
PORT NECHES -- With Dominic Merka and Brennan Doty five yards behind their respective snappers, pass catchers may leave The Reservation with red, sore hands late tonight.
Two wide-open offenses -- Crosby and Port Neches-Groves -- with two senior, marquee quarterbacks collide in the Indians' home opener at 7:30, with two of the area's better coaching staffs trading lobs and salvos.
Both the Cougars and the Indians reach this first September Friday at 0-1 after scoring plenty of points in each losing effort.
Crosby scored 30 and Merka dashed for three touchdowns but Montgomery averaged more than 10 yards a rush and claimed a 56-30 win last Friday at Crosby.
PN-G scored 29 and Doty tossed three scoring passes and threw for 232 yards but Gregory-Portland eeked out a 30-29 Saturday in San Antonio's Alamodome.
Merka has pledged with TCU and the high-flying Texas Christian coaching staff has assured the Crosby QB that their intention is to recruit Dominic as a quarterback, too. An ESPN recruiting website labeled the three-year starter as 6-3, 190. Crosby's 2010 varsity roster has listed Merka at 6-5, 220.
Either way, Indians chief Brandon Faircloth clearly has understood Merka to represent another interesting exam for PN-G's youthful pass defense.
"Merka is big and fast and smart," the PN-G boss said. "He's a playmaker for them. He made a lot of great plays for them last week. (Crosby boss Kevin) coach Flanigan has done a wonderful job and it's going to be another great test."
While PN-G claimed a decisive 37-7 victory in last year's meeting at The Reservation, each team followed with perfect runs through their district schedules. Flanigan guided Crosby to a 7-0 streak through 21-4A and Faircloth did the same with his first set of Indians.
Even though his second-year starter has established his passing skills, Faircloth has every reason to rest Doty's throwing arm a bit this week. For one thing, PN-G will desire to improve on its opening-game rushing performance.
The Indians rushed 21 times for just 70 yards against a Gregory-Portland defense that aggressively placed seven in the box most of Saturday. Crosby's defense also may be suspect against the run, based on its initial numbers.
Montgomery running back Leroy Dobbins dented the Cougars defense for 218 yards and five touchdowns on 18 attempts a week ago.
"Really, we had seven returning starters on defense (from a 10-3 team) but we were pretty banged up and that guy (Dobbins) has to be one of the premier running backs around Greater Houston," Crosby's head coach said.
Crosby trailed only 21-16 at half last week before Dobbins and the Bears busted out for a 28-point third quarter. PN-G led at 22-21 and did not convert an excellent opportunity to win in its final two minutes.
The former Orangefield head coach saw more than enough video to like the Indians performance at San Antonio.
"Boy, I thought PN-G played well," Flanigan said. "They throw and catch it really well and the up front guys on offense and defense are the strength of their team."
CROSBY AT PN-GROVES
When: Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Indian Stadium, Port Neches
Records: Crosby 0-1, PN-G 0-1
Series: PN-G leads 6-1
Last year: PN-G 37-7
Internet: videostream on www.panews.com at noon Saturday
Radio: KCOL-FM 92.5
 
CROSBY OFFENSE
QB -- Dominic Merka (8)
RB -- Jacoby Scott (11)
IR -- Forrest Tyler (1)
IR -- Juavante Street (80)
WR -- Paul Singleton (83)
WR -- Willie Hebert (22)
LT -- Justin Walker (77)
LG -- Caleb Clark (69)
C -- Chase Huff (55)
RG -- Preston Harvey (60)
RT -- Clayton Callicutt (56)
 
PN-G DEFENSE
SE -- Taylor Thompson (42)
NT -- Aaron Easley (61)
WE -- Jacob Davis (46)
OLB -- D.J. Schexnider (33)
ILB -- Michael Glorioso (47)
ILB -- Ryan St. Clair (34)
OLB -- Josh Bowie (20)
LCB -- Justin Sperl (21)
RCB -- Hunter Knox (6)
SS -- Connor Manuel (14)
FS -- Tanner Jorgensen (13)
 
PN-G OFFENSE
LWR -- Collin Gizzi (15)
LT -- Kyler Nicotre (70)
LG -- Gabe Langlois (79)
C -- Ben Parks (53)
RG -- Patrick Braud (64)
RT -- Greg Lunceford (77)
RWR -- Jayce Nelson (4)
SLOT -- Amir Jalali (10)
WB -- Austin O'Day (45)
QB -- Brennan Doty (18)
RB -- Chase Bertrand (26)
 
CROSBY DEFENSE
LE -- Jesse Blackburn (78)
LT -- Carlos Gomez (46)
RT -- Ray Mendez (85)
RE -- Justin Duhon (40)
SLB -- Emmanuel Colomb (7)
MLB -- Anthony Nelson (45)
WLB -- Zane Harber (10)
LCB -- Gage Larkin (6)
RCB -- Neco Isaac (3)
FS -- John McNeil (26)
SS -- Donovan Starks (5)
 
Source: http://panews.com/sports/x955425502/Two-big-guns-to-fire-at-Reservation