On a night of the naming of a king and queen at Little Cypress-Mauriceville, it was the Indians of Port Neches-Groves who took a step closer in their playoff quest by thumping the Bears 35-7 Friday night.

    With an LC-M homecoming crowd and the always faithful PN-G fans arriving en masse, the game should have been a showdown of athletic ability and the drive to challenge for a district title.

    Instead, it was a show of offensive power, both in the air and on the ground, as PN-G amassed 406 total yards of offense and 29 first downs en route to its victory.

    Chase Bertrand certainly earned a game ball after scoring four rushing touchdowns for the Indians, who are now 5-3 overall and 3-2 in district play. But it was Travis Miller whose contributions should not be overlooked.

    Miller stayed busy, throwing the ball 33 times for 186 yards. He completed 25 passes, or 76 percent of his attempts, averaging more than seven yards each time he found his receiver.

    And he found plenty of them.

    Logan Chipman led the onslaught with seven catches for 57 yards, while Bertrand had four catches for 48 yards. Jayce Nelson picked up 47 receiving yards on seven catches, while Tyler LaCour had six snags for 41 yards.

    Having to battle the distraction of a pre-game homecoming ceremony and a swarm of mosquitoes, it took both teams a while to settle in and start moving the ball.

    By the end of the opening period, PN-G was on the board with LaCour hauling in a 17-yard pass from Miller. Bertrand ran the extra-point and the Tribe was up 8-0 with 1:51 left in the first quarter.

    The Bertrand Show took the stage in the second quarter as the senior scored on runs of 3 and 13 yards. Angel Valencia booted the PAT on each touchdown, giving PN-G a 22-0 lead heading into the halftime break.

    Bertrand showed up again in the third quarter with a 4-yard TD run but a failed extra-point kick left PN-G up 28-0 with 6:21 left in the quarter.

    LC-M, falling to 4-4 and 1-4, finally got on the board in the third quarter with a nine-play, 68-yard drive that was capped by a 13-yard pass from Kyle Herfurth to Preston Armstrong for the score. Herfurth, who finished with 103 yards on 12 pass completions, willed the Bears into the end zone, completing passes of 19, 10 and 13 yards while running the ball twice in the drive.

    Bertrand got the final word in, though, with a 9-yard TD run to open the fourth quarter.

The hard-running Bertrand finished the night with 19 carries for 138 yards.

    Alex Sezar led the Bears’ rushing attack with 80 yards on 13 carries while Tyler Wright (31 yards) and Jordan Harmon (29 yards) were the top LC-M receivers.

    The Indians host Vidor at The Reservation on Friday night while LC-M travels to Livingston to take on the Lions. Kickoff for both District 20-4A games is 7:30 p.m.