PN-G ‘D’ rises to occasion, Indians hold off Vidor, 14-7

JASON ROLLINSON
The Port Arthur News

VIDOR October 27, 2007 03:13 am

— Scary memories of the Purple-and-White’s defense featuring names such as Clint Burnett, Zeke Schexneider, Jody McDonald and Jordan Davis will remain in Vidor quarterback Roman Franklin’s head for quite a while, as Halloween approaches next week.
The above crew combined for five sacks totalling a negative-45 yards, including halting an eventual game-tying or game-winning drive in the final minute as Port Neches-Groves spoiled Vidor’s energetic, glow-in-the-dark homecoming show, 14-7, in front of 8,000 screaming fans in District 22-4A action Friday at Pirate Stadium.
The final sack by Clint Burnett with 42 seconds left was made possible only after a touchdown toss from Franklin to Bret Harris on 4th-and-goal from the 12 was nullified by a holding call.
This preserved the shutout by the Indian defense, as Vidor’s only score came in the first quarter when Chris Teinert stepped in front of a Harrison Tatum shovel pass and scooted 30 yards to give the Pirates (1-7, 0-5) an early 6-0 lead.
Franklin converted the extra-point kick and Vidor led 7-0 just a minute, eight seconds into the game.
“Franklin is such a tough player,” PN-G head coach Matt Burnett said. “We tried blitzing in the first half, and then made an adjustment in the second half to turn our ends loose and try to contain him on the perimeter.”
PN-G’s offense returned to the field after Vidor’s touchdown and constructed an 11-play, 72-yard drive that featured all running plays and was capped off by a 2-yard pitch taken off right tackle by Josh Wright. Mason English’s kick tied the game at 7-7 with 6:27 to play in the first.
After holding Vidor to three plays and out on the ensuing possession, PN-G (6-2, 5-0) took over at its own 33-yard line. A 42-yard draw by Hemmings set the Indians up with a 1st-and-goal at the Pirate 24.
Five plays later, Wright found paydirt once more when he took a pitch to the right for 3 yards. English’s boot gave the Indians a 14-7 edge with 1:35 left in the quarter, and that completed the scoring for the remainder of the game.
“You have to give Vidor a lot of credit,” Burnett said. “They played hard for not getting the breaks this year. Coach Mathews gets credit for preparing a team to play like that.”
PN-G outgained Vidor, 136-7 in first-quarter yardage and owned a 171-85 edge in yards at the half.
The Indians finished the game with 235 total yards to the Pirates’ 156, paced by a 134-yard performance by fullback Jake Hemmings.
“I told our team to prepare for nights like this when it seems like nothing is going right (especially after the fumbles in the second half),” Burnett said. “Even though our offense faced adversity, our defense stepped up and knew they had to come to play. They performed well and were able to keep Vidor’s offense out of the end zone.”
The Pirates were paced on the ground by Bo Pillsbury, who took 15 totes for 55 yards.
The Pirates’ next-to-last play from scrimmage wasn’t the only play with a penalty that could have affected the outcome. Vidor’s Shane Pittman had a 64-yard run cut short to just 31 yards when a holding call kept the Pirates out of the red zone.
Vidor wasn’t able to pick up any points out of that second-quarter possession as a keeper on a fake field goal play fell just inches short on 4th-and-4 from the PN-G 15.
Hemmings gained 119 of his 134 yards in the first half as the Pirates made adjustments in the second half.
PN-G fell victim of two fumbled snaps by Tatum on its first two possessions of the second half, but Vidor was unable to take advantage of the turnovers on its four third-quarter drives, being forced to punt the ball back three times and failing to convert on a 4th-and-4 from the PN-G 37.
The Indians only possession of the fourth quarter was stymied after PN-G was flagged three times for 34 yards. The Pirates began their final drive with over six minutes left in the contest and were able to run 18 plays before the decisive fourth-down sack.
PN-G returns home next week for a district contest against Central. The Jaguars were blanked by Dayton, 20-0.
“Central will be a big game for us,” Burnett said. “We will have to get over this one and learn from our mistakes to keep the momentum going.”
Meanwhile, after losing back-to-back games to two 22-4A powers (the Indians and Central) by a combined 13 points, the Pirates travel to Ozen.

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