Greatest Fan Memories

My dad had attended a small high school in East Texas that did not have a football team so he had never seen a football game. In 1953 PN (no G back then) was playing in the playoffs at Indian Stadium. Daddy took me to the game and I sat on his shoulders as we stood outside the fence around the field. There weren't any seats to be had. I don't remember who the other team was that we were playing but we watched those "Flying Frenchmen" Gordon LeBeouf and Bobby LaBorde run rampant thru their defense. I became a part of the Indian Nation that night and couldn't imagine attending school any place else, married an Indian halfback and had two sons who were Indian athletes. Gordon passed away yesterday but his record still stands although Caleb Harmon sure made a good run at it this year.

My greatest Memory of PNG football is the atmoshpere. I am a Junior at a school in Mississippi but I lived in Port Neches for 8 years. After watching football at PNG then coming here and watching it, it is like two different worlds. The fans just sit and talk. PNG has something special and no one else can even come close to it.

I also was there for the 1999 State Championship game and seeing the 36,000 PNG fans fill up the Astrodome was amazing. Even though I don't go to PNG anymore, my blood is still Purple and White. Once an Indian ALWAYS AN INDIAN!

I know I should talk about football but I have to state this for my daughter. In 1977 we went to the Astrodome with my family we lived in Houston and had nothing else to do so we said "lets go" we sat in the mezzanine next to the Fry family. When we saw the fans and the band, drill team and twirlers my daughter said at age 7 that she wanted to be in that band. My husband had a transfer the next year and we became residence of Port Neches and my daughter started twirling lessons the next year. Needless to say the year of 1986 her junior year she became a twirler and wore her headdress with pride. My son was a baseball player on varsity his freshman year. I still have purple running thru my veins even though I have moved from the great community.

This has got to be one of the greatest high school football games I have ever attended in my entire life. Both football teams played excellent football and played all the way to the end. I just thought PNG had their first loss of the season and figured the only way they would win was to drive down and at least force overtime with a field goal. If someone told me that PNG would have blocked the extra point and run it all the way back to score and tie game at 22-22 I would not have believed it would actually happen. IM PROUD OF THESE INDIANS AND IM READY FOR PLAYOFFS..... GO PNG WIN STATE... GOOD JOB COACH.
PAUL MORVANT CLASS OF '08

I wanted to play football since Jr. high, but my wearing glasses put a damper on that dream, so I played Trumpet in the band. I always felt like I was part of the team every time I marched on that field. Joined the military right out of high school and was in Viet Nam in 1967 thru 1968. I kept the Indians on my mind and in my heart for the last 43 years. Even tho I'd go watch other high school teams play, every game I've watched in the last 43 years I had flashbacks of PNG ! I am 100% disabled from Viet Nam and having a phrosthetic leg I don't climb stairs well so when I do get down to a game {retired on Lake Bob Sandlin-Pittsburg Texas} if you sit close to the bottom row and an old 1 legged guy squeezes in to sit~~don't get upset~~it's only me! Geaux Indians!!!

The Regional Game(?) against the Texas City Stingarees (played in a South Houston stadium if I remember correctly) was played in brutal weather conditions as a cold front blew in that day. Near freezing rain with a howling wind kept both teams in check and PNG missed a PAT to fall behind 6 to 7. Somehow PNG drove down the field with very little time on the clock to allow Rick Vaught to kick a 25 yard (or so) field goal into the howling wind to win the game.

I think it was San Antonio Lee - I am not sure about the year. Whatever the case we were sitting in front of two scouts from Texas A and M University and another one from U of H. The aggie scouts were there to see some players from Lee and kept talking about how little and slow the PNG players were. They went on and on about the kid they were there to see ( Lee payers ). The U of H scout kept telling them PNG was going to win big....if I recall right PNG won by 21 points....not sure, but Lee didn;t show much and the aggie scouts left in the third quarter.

i was at my first football games
and the little purple footballs were being
thrown,
and one came right at me
hit me in the head
and people 2 seats behind me caught it,
they gave it back though.

Playing the Garland Owls in 1955 for the state championship on their home field. We won 20-14 on a last second pass from their 1 yard line........and you could count on one hand the number of passes we threw in any game that year.

There are ALOT of memories as a fan, but what sticks out most was as a player. It's a tradition that started years back. Every game a few minutes before it was time to take the field for run-through.. Whether it was home or away.. as a team in full gear with helmets strapped we would cut off the lights in the locker room and listen to "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. Aside from your thoughts, there was total silence up until 3:40 (drums) into the song.. then needless to say, it was as if the room exploded and everyone knew it was GAMETIME! To some it might not have had much meaning, but to most as an Indian by birth including myself, it's one of the most exhilarating feelings to have experienced. I still can't listen to that song without getting chills.

Hey INDIANS, this is Pham from G-Crew '08. you know, them crazy, loud, dancing, crowd-pumping, and team pumping with purple and white paint on face while on the track cheering. There is alot of GREAT memories I cherish but probably my favorite has got to be during the last game at the OLD RESERVATION against Galena Park. It was the beginning of the 4th Quarter after the G-Crew put all of the equipment back up. EVERYONE WAS STANDING, CHEERING, AND YELLING. EVERY SINGLE PERSON STANDING IN PURPLE AND WHITE. All of the G-Crew members joined arms and walked on to that track in one line. that has got to be my favorite memory out of all of them. THAT GAME WAS EMOTIONAL FOR EVERYONE. PN-G vs Galena Park. MY FAVORITE MEMORY!!

Kyle Aguilard's catch in the endzone to beat Nederland and send us on that 5/6 year playoff run which everone that was a part of will never forget. We still have a yearly golfing weekend of the State Chapion team '75.

We have had Coach Etherige, Clearman, Nunez and Troy at several of them.

The more I think of it there are countless memories and moments--even in practice.

Really, a irreplaceable part of a bunch of folks lives

The opening scoring drive in the state championship game in 1975 against Permian. We established the ability to move the ball & all but shut down the fans on the opposing side. I do not recall a more dominating offensive drive than that particular one. It was extra special sweet because the defensive coordinator for Permian had been bragging in their area papers about how dominant their defensive line would be over our offensive line. I was only 10 years old, yet I remember it as clear today as when it was happening.

I was just thinking about today (9/21) being 30 years to the day when I watched the Indians, led by QB Donnie Schexnider, defeat the TJ Yellow Jackets, led by the D&D duo of Todd Dodge and Brent Duhon. We built a 20-0 lead before the Jackets finally scored on a lucky catch TD bomb into the end zone at the end of the half. I remember how Donnie, nicknamed "The Snake", ran up a lot of yards on the ground, even leaping over TJ players to gain extra yards. We went on to win the game by score of 26-14. This was the ninth consecutive year that the Indians had defeated TJ. I remember how insufferable so many Port Arthur fans acted, especially some of my own relatives, prior to the game since PN-G started 0-2 and TJ was on the rise after a 1-9 season the year before. They were so certain that this was the end of the Indian domination of the Jackets, and Bob West was really fanning the flames in the newspaper, all but crowning Ronnie Thompson as the savior who had left Vidor to return to his alma mater to bring TJ back to the promised land. Well, the promised land would have to wait another year, but I got a lot of personal satisfaction out of seeing PN-G crush the hated Jackets. For me, it was the best, most exhilarating day of a long, hard year where I faced some very serious personal and financial hardships. Like others on this thread, I have many great memories, but the joy I felt on this particular day after the final score, was an especially fond memory.

And I have MANY, so I hope I don't catch myself rambling on. But here are the ones that stand out.

1974 - It was the last district game of the year and the Indians needed help to even make the playoffs. They had to win and then have the Port Arthur Jefferson - Port Arthur Lincoln game end in a TIE! PN-G did their part by beating their arch-rival Big Ned 20-17. And on the way home from a rodeo, I heard on the radio and I couldn't believe it, "It's a final,TJ 13, Lincoln 13". I get chills just reliving that moment in time. PN-G went on to lose to Brazoswood in the semifinals in the dome before a huge crowd of close to 30,000 people. And the rest is legendary.

1975 - My senior year, all the playoff games were full of electricity and I have great memories of all of them. But the the Final against Odessa Permian, arguably the epitome of Texas High School Football for a long time, has to rate the best. Aside from the game itself and the 300+ charted buses from Port Neches, my favorite memory of it, that I will never forget was at a Denny's with my family having breakfast prior to the game. The place was packed with about 3/4 Indian Fans and 1/4 Permian fans. These three PN-G fans in their late teens or early 20's walked in and screamed in unison for everyone to hear "Cold Boudain and Hot Coosh Coosh, COME ON INDIANS, LETS PUSH, PUSH, PUSH!!!! And the Indian fans went wild.

In 1953 my grandfather watched Port Neches Groves beat Big Spring. At 84 years old every year during football season he will tell me the story of what he saw. In 1955 he took my father to watch PNG play Garland in the State Championship game. They will both tell you about the memories they shared that day. In the 1970's my father took me and my brother to watch PNG play for the State Championships twice. In 1999 me and my father took my son to watch PNG play for the State Championship. Now one thing that I can say about Texas football is that playing for a State Championship is very special. Playing for a State Championship as part of a Port Neches-Groves Indians bunch, well, thats as good as it gets. I can not wait until the next State Championship.

During the play-offs at the Astrodome in 1976 or 1977, I remember Randy Etheridge running back the opening kick-off for a touchdown. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. We had one of our record crowds there (over 30,000), and it was so loud. To this day that is the loudest I ever remember a crowd being after a play. Needless to say, we won the game. I don't think any team could have come back after that opening eruption from our crowd!

My earliest memory of PN-G football is attending a home game at Indian Stadium.  My Dad and I walked into the stadium from the south endzone.  At the time there was still a fence around the field perimeter.  While standing at the fence watching the teams during the pregame warmups #24 was fielding punts and the ball went over his head and rolled up to the fence.  The player chased down the ball and before running back back on the field looked up and said a few words to me and my Dad.  For a young kid who was raised on East Texas football, it was a memorable moment.  Especially considering that #24 was all-state, and eventual all-american running back Jeff 'The Jet' Bergeron.  Those were great years that will always be remembered.

I have attended Highschool football games all over the US. Without a doubt, this school PNG has the best Friday Night Football fans, stadium, and this year team!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Indians!!
Go #8