By Chris Moore

Special to The News

The Port Neches-Groves Indians’ season came to an end Friday as the defending state champs fell to South Oak Cliff 56-14 in the 5A Division II Region 3 final. The

The high-powered Bears offense was too much for PNG to handle as SOC got off to a hot start, scoring touchdowns on their first six drives.

The Bears asserted their dominance early, returning the opening kickoff down to the PNG 8. After a false start backed them up, SOC scored on a short pass to give them a 7-0 lead just 19 seconds into the contest.

On the Indians’ second play, a SOC defender jumped in front of a PNG receiver and picked off a pass to give the Bears the ball on the PNG 34. On the next play, the SOC running back scampered into the endzone to give the Bears a 14-0 lead with just over a minute off the game clock.

The Indians responded with an impressive drive, led by running back Tyson Henry, who broke off a huge run to put PNG inside the SOC 5-yard line. On the next play, senior Mason Wuenschel bulldozed his way into the endzone to bring PNG within seven points with 9:32 to play in the first quarter.

The Bears answered with a bruising nine-play drive, highlighted by a 50-yard scramble by the quarterback to put the ball deep into PNG territory. PNG was able to force a fourth down, but the Bears converted, scoring a TD to give them a 21-7 lead.

PNG did not go away easily in the first half and battled through a 19-play drive that ended with an 8-yard run by Henry to bring the score to 21-14 with 7:17 left in the second quarter.

Unfortunately, that would be the last time the Indians saw the endzone, while SOC was just getting warmed up.

The Bears capped off the following drive with a TD run to bring the lead back to 14. After forcing PNG to punt on the ensuing drive, SOC kept their feet on the gas, scoring another touchdown on a 78-yard pass with 45 seconds left to play in the half.

At the midway point, the Bears led the Indians 35-14.

The Bears forced another three-and-out to start the second half and capitalized on the good field position. A 30-yard pass got SOC down to the PNG 12 and a touchdown pass on fourth and goal brought the lead to 42-14. Both teams ran out the clock with SOC tacking on two more scores before it was all said and done.

South Oak Cliff will take on Argyle in the state semifinal with the winner advancing to the state championship game.