BAYTOWN — When its pain and sting departs, Port Neches-Groves figures to reflect on Saturday much as it reflects on its entire 2007 football season.

The 22-4A co-champion and 4A Division 1 bidistrict champion Indians (8-4) gave everything they could at this regional round affair.

If there was any way that the Indians could erase the work of Jacquizz Rodgers, Lamar Consolidated might not be advancing to next week’s quarterfinal round.

Yet Jacquizz simply glided his way through 200 yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries in sparking the Mustangs to a 26-7 victory at chilly Stallworth Stadium.

The Rosenberg Lamar team (10-2) advanced to meet Austin LBJ next Saturday in College Station’s Kyle Field at 4 p.m.

There have been Indians squads which ventured deeper into the playoffs than this one but the PN-G head coach, Matt Burnett, never will be more fond of any group to ever wear the purple and white than this one.

They put it to Nederland at Bulldog Stadium and won a memorable knockdown, dragout against Lumberton before they thoroughly blanketed Galena Park last week.

“We gave it every thing we had,” the winningest coach in PN-G’s grand history said. “We were bidistrict champs and I thought we played real well tonight. That team was just better than us. We didn’t have enough firepower. We got beat by a real good team.”

To Rodgers’ credit, the 5-7, 180-pound stick of dynamite just continues to collect his yards and points even though the opposition awaits his every carry. Jacquizz moved from 11th to 9th among the state’s career rushers by lifting his sum to 7,732 yards. He’s six yards away from former Oklahoma University and Detroit Lions star Billy Sims of Hooks (7,738).

Then there’s Rodgers’ 126 career touchdowns, just two shy of the all-time state record owned by Cuero’s Robert Strait (128). Jacquizz credited both his line and PN-G’s defense for playing at a high level.

“I had a good group of guys up front who helped me to get free,” Rodgers said. “PN-G was a big, well-coached physical team. They tried to make me earn it.”

PN-G defensive coordinator Carl Broussard indicated his unit hoped to keep Rodgers to less than half of his Saturday night output.

“We tried to hold him under 100 yards, but that didn’t work,” Broussard said. “He’s pretty phenomenal. He stops and makes you miss. He’s the best running back I’ve ever seen. He reminds me of Barry Sanders. He’s been doing that to everybody.”

Rodgers scored on runs of 9, 1, 8 and 22 yards. That 22-yard gainer — with 1:50 to play — tied Jacquizz’s longest gain of the night. The Mustangs tailback also opened the second half with a 22-yarder after gaining 114 in the first-half on 16 carries.

“We came out a little sluggish in the beginning,” Rodgers said as PN-G stayed within a score (13-6) at halftime. “We tried to get everybody pumped up at halftime.”