By E.J. Collins
Special to The News

CHANNELVIEW — After the severe effect on their community during the previous week due to Hurricane Harvey, Port Arthur Memorial gave both strong offensive and defensive looks in a non-district scrimmage against Channelview.

Memorial head coach Kenny Harrison’s defense dominated the first half of the scrimmage played at the Channelview ISD football stadium.
Channelview’s offense started off slow, as the Falcons were having a hard time running the ball in addition to fumbling a few carries.

“We need to work on a lot, and this scrimmage allowed our young men to realize they have a lot of work to do,” Channelview coach Averion Hurts stated.

The Memorial offense came out steaming on its second drive.

Quarterback Keitha Jones Jr. and running back Elijah Hines marched the ball down the field, eating up the clock in the first quarter.
To complete the drive, Jones caught the ball out the shotgun and sprinted to the sideline for the easy touchdown.

“It says a lot about our kids and the community they come from to be able to come out and compete at any level, after what they been through the last two weeks,” Harrison said.

In the second quarter, Memorial struggled with snapping the ball out of the shotgun. The center tossed the ball over the quarterback’s head, but Memorial recovered the ball. After a pass interference call on Channelview, running back Kobi Martin stopped on a dime and froze the defender before scoring.

“With Keitha Jones and the running backs, it’s a tough load for anybody,” Harrison said. “If those guys can stay healthy, they give us a good chance to be successful.”

With 1:00 left in the second quarter, Channelview’s offense got a 70-yard run, but failed to score after getting into the red zone.

In the third quarter both teams played their second and third strings, and Memorial gave up another big run in the middle of the field.

“Conditioning is a huge factor; we have to get in better shape,” Harrison said. “In order to be a successful football team you have to tackle.”

Hurricane Harvey was an unknown tragedy that affected many lives of many Texas residents. Both schools had a delayed start and scheduling issues due to the hurricane.

“The hardest part were the kids’ sudden transition, although we were blessed our kids didn’t lose anything. Our prayers go out to the Port Arthur community. Playing a team like Port Arthur [Memorial] is a great opportunity to realize we need to go to work,” Hurts said.

On Monday the will be at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, volunteering to help people move out.

“This football team is here for the community and I take it upon myself as well as the coaching staff to bring the community back together,” Harrison said.