Roschon to Preston: Hughes emerges as another target for Indians
Published 6:55 pm Thursday, October 5, 2017
PORT NECHES — Preston Hughes had 11 touches in Monday’s Port Neches-Groves victory at Livingston.
Seven of them were receptions.
“He’s definitely a dual-threat guy,” PNG coach Brandon Faircloth said. “You can put him the backfield and throw the ball to him. He’s an excellent player who does a great job of blocking. He’s a well-rounded football player.”
Yet, this is the first year for the senior to line up as a wideout in high school action, as he shares time at running back with sophomore Gavin Deslatte.
Hughes made his biggest impact as a receiver Monday with 71 receiving yards and a touchdown, almost half of his season total. He also had 96 yards and a touchdown on four rushes, one of them going for 32 yards.
“I’m just trying to do the best for my team and do whatever it takes to win,” Hughes said. “Me and Roschon [Johnson, PNG’s quarterback] came out here a lot during the summer and ran routes. A lot of work, you know.”
Now, Johnson has two Prestons to connect with, along with senior Preston Riggs, whose 545 yards on 20 catches (six touchdowns) lead District 22-5A.
The way Hughes has delivered, it might be hard to believe he last played receiver in eighth grade. It was during spring drills when Faircloth told him he would line up there as Keynel McZeal was moving on to Texas A&M.
All this Preston had to do was learn the plays.
“I had to remember where to line up and what route to run,” Hughes said, asked about drawing from his past receiving experience. “I just worked hard at that. Now, it’s just natural now.”
So is Johnson’s play at quarterback.
The junior is approaching 1,000 yards as he and PNG (3-0, 2-0 in 22-5A) enter their fourth game of the season Saturday against Baytown Lee. Johnson — who’s completed 72.7 percent of his passes for 878 yards on the year — was 22 for 28 at Livingston.
“We knew that was the plan,” Faircloth said. “They were going to force us to throw the ball quite a bit. Roschon and our receivers responded, and our offensive line gave Roschon plenty of protection, so it was a good night. Very exciting.”
PNG rested 12 days each between games through Monday and is facing a quick turnaround to host Lee (0-3, 0-4) for homecoming. Faircloth thinks the Indians have responded well to the unusual schedule designed to help teams stay on schedule to complete district play for the 5A playoffs.
“Our bye week, we took it as a game week, so we went out every day and practiced as hard as we could,” Hughes said. “Now that we’re actually playing a team, we’re just going to do what coach Faircloth tells us and hopefully get the win.”
PNG did not practice Tuesday but watched game film and lifted weights.
With Port Arthur Memorial visiting the Reservation on Oct. 13, Faircloth reminds the Indians the biggest game of the year is the next.
“We’ve been trying to balance rest and have good practices, so I think they responded well,” Faircloth said.
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews