Texas Longhorn commits: Week 10 preview

It’s a late edition of the Texas Longhorns football commits weekly preview this week, as two commits played their games last night, but this piece was not ready for publication in time. Blame it on bad clock management on this writer’s part, and an inordinate amount of normal writing time spent watching the World Series instead.

One Longhorn commit has finished his regular season and will play in his team’s first playoff game tonight, and a few others will play in their final regular season games this weekend. The teams of a few commits have earned playoff bids, one has seen his team get eliminated from playoff contention, and for at least seven other commits a win or loss this weekend could mean the difference between reaching the postseason or having to turn in their equipment at the end of next week.

In Week 9, Casey Thompson once again had the biggest statistical performance among the commits, passing for 9 touchdowns and surpassing the 3,000-yard passing mark for the season. Wide receiver commit Al’Vonte Woodard had his first big statistical performance of the 2017 season, Keaontay Ingram and B.J. Foster were both very efficient with fewer offensive touches than normal, injured linebacker Byron Hobbs returned to the field for the first time in seven weeks, and, most remarkably, the longest play from scrimmage involving a Longhorn commit was a catch-and-run of over 80 yards by tight end and future offensive lineman Reese Moore! You can watch the video of that last play further down.

Below is the only preview you need to read for this week in UT commits. I haven’t mentioned this before but the game times listed for each game will be local times for those respective games, as Texas has commits who play their home games in three different time zones.

2018 Texas Longhorn football commits

QB Cameron Rising (Newbury Park, California)

Last week: Completed 16 of 44 passes for 166 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, and rushed 10 times for 60 yards in a 41-28 loss to Moorpark.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:00, vs. Thousand Oaks

Notes: According to the Los Angeles Daily News’s recap of last week’s Newbury Park-Moorpark game, Rising went down with “an apparent knee injury while diving for a touchdown” with 5:19 left in the 4th quarter and required assistance to walk off the field. Rising missed a chunk of his junior season with a shoulder injury, so he’s dealt with injuries before. It was reported on Tuesday night that he had not torn his ACL. What that means for his status as far as tonight’s game is concerned, I don’t know.

Last week’s loss was Newbury Park’s third straight defeat, and it dropped the Panthers’ season record to 4-5, and their record in Camino League play to 0-2. Whether they can still make the playoffs or not, I don’t know because the four Camino League teams are classified in four different divisions, and California’s playoff system is weird, to say the least. Newbury Park will finish its regular season schedule tonight against 2-7 Thousand Oaks, a team on a four-game losing streak and who lost to Moorpark, 43-0, two weeks ago

QB Casey Thompson (Newcastle, Oklahoma)

Last week: Completed 35 of 67 passes for 565 yards, 9 TDs and 2 INTs, and rushed 9 times for 15 yards in a 84-70 loss to Elk City.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:00, vs. Cache

Notes: When looking for stats from games involving UT recruits I’ll often find that those posted on MaxPreps differ from those listed or mentioned in local news reports. That was the case with Thompson’s stats from last Friday’s loss to Elk City, but his stat line - and that of the game overall - was pretty astounding either way.

According to The Oklahoman’s recap, Thompson passed for 9 TDs and 2 interceptions in his 67 attempts. Amazingly, Elk City QB Chipper Skelton matched Thompson’s production with 9 TDs of his own, as he completed 21 of 29 pass attempts for 443 yards and 6 TDs, and also rushed for a pair of scores. Even the non-Math majors reading this may be thinking, “6 passing TDs plus 2 rushing TDs only equals 8. Where did Skelton’s 9th TD come from?” Unfortunately, his 9th TD was a defensive score and came on the game’s deciding play. Elk City led 77-70 in the final moments of regulation when Newcastle had the ball and was trying to tie the game. Skelton, playing on defense, picked off a Thompson pass and ran it all the way back to the end zone with just seven seconds left on the clock to end Newcastle’s last hope.

Elk City gained a reported 784 yards of offense, while Newcastle gained - according to MaxPreps, 714 total yards. Aside from the heroics of Thompson and Skelton, other big performances included Newcastle’s senior WR Jacob Morris catching 21 passes for 328 yards and 4 TDs, Thompson’s brother Cade Thompson reeling in 12 catches for 157 yards and 4 TDs, and Elk City running back Diquan Bradford scoring four times and compiling 254 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving.

The loss dropped Newcastle to 2-7 for the season and 2-4 in district play. The Racers will go into the final week of the regular season tied for sixth out of the eight teams in District 1-4A. State-ranked Heritage Hall leads the district at a perfect 6-0, while Weatherford and Elk City are tied for second at 4-2. Cache and Elgin both sit at 3-3, and Newcastle and Clinton are both 2-4. Amazingly, I think Newcastle still has a shot at the postseason. If Newcastle beats Cache and Clinton beats Elgin, that will leave those four teams all with 3-4 district records, and tiebreakers would have to be used to determine which of those four teams got the district’s final playoff spot. My guess is in that scenario Newcastle or Clinton would have the advantage by virtue of having a 2-1 record against the other three teams, and the tiebreaker would be point differentials.

RB Keaontay Ingram (Carthage)

Last week: Had 11 carries for 161 yards and 2 TDs in a 41-7 win over Bullard.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:30, at Palestine

Notes: Ingram only played in the first half of last week’s blowout win over Bullard. His two TD runs covered 54 and 30 yards and both came in the 1st quarter. Carthage led 34-0 at halftime and rested most of their starters in the second half, as the game went to a running clock.

The win was Carthage’s 18th straight victory, and as with last week they received 22 of 25 first-place votes in this week’s AP poll for Class 4A. The Bulldogs are alone atop the standings of District 9-4A Division I, and they will clinch the district title with a win tonight over a Palestine team that is 2-2 in district play and tied with two other teams for third place in the district. Palestine is three weeks removed from a 41-20 loss to Bullard, who Carthage thoroughly dominated last week. But the Wildcats shouldn’t be taken too lightly, as they beat Tyler Chapel Hill 62-47 last week in a game in which Palestine QB Tyler Gray finished with 464 yards passing and 111 yards rushing.

WR Brennan Eagles (Alief Taylor)

Last week: Did not play in a 31-28 loss to Alief Hastings.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:00, vs. Pearland Dawson

Notes: Eagles has not played since Taylor’s October 6 loss to Pearland. The Houston Chronicle’s recap of last week’s Hastings-Taylor game mentioned that Brennan Eagles was injured and not in the lineup for Taylor, but did not provide any further details on his injury.

Taylor’s loss last week to Alief ISD rival Hastings left them with a 1-3 district record, which ties them for fifth place in District 23-6A. The Lions have two games remaining, and their only route to getting the district’s final playoff berth is winning their final two games against district leader Pearland Dawson (4-0) and Richmond George Ranch (2-2), along with George Ranch beating Alief Elsik.

WR Rondale Moore (Trinity - Louisville, Kentucky)

Last week: Bye

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:30, vs. Seneca in the first round of Kentucky’s 6A playoff

Notes: Moore missed a pair of games in October recovering from a bruised hip. He came back and scored four TDs in Trinity’s regular season finale two weeks ago, then got a bye week to rest up before Kentucky’s playoffs begin this week. Trinity will be defending its 2016 6A state championship, and if they emerge from the tournament as state champions again it will be the school’s 13th state title in the past 17 seasons, and 25th football state championship overall since the school’s founding in 1953.

For their first round game Trinity will play host to a bad Seneca team that they demolished 42-0 three weeks ago without Moore in the lineup. The last three times Trinity and Seneca have played (all between 2015 and 2017), Trinity has won by a total score of 142-0. This year’s Seneca team is 0-10 and has been outscored 369-28. Heck of a playoff system Kentucky has there; they just let every team in. The head coach of even a winless team that put less than three dozen points on the scoreboard can claim his team had a playoff berth under his direction!

Trinity gets to host as many as its first three playoff games, and potentially each of those three could involve re-matches of regular season games. After they beat Seneca tonight, Trinity will next play the winner of Campbell County (6-4) and Louisville Eastern (5-5). Trinity beat Eastern on October 6, 45-0. Trinity is ranked 9th in this week’s USA Today Super 25 expert rankings.

WR Al’Vonte Woodard (Houston Lamar)

Last week: Caught 3 passes for 128 yards and one TD, and had one carry for 53 yards in a 63-6 win over Sam Houston Math Science & Tech.

This week: Saturday, November 4 at 6:00, at Houston Bellaire

Notes: Woodard finally had his first 100-yard receiving game of the season in last week’s win, highlighted by a 72-yard touchdown catch late in the 2nd quarter on which he easily got separation from a much smaller defender on a double move and adjusted to catch an under-thrown pass. That score gave Lamar a 49-0 lead going into halftime. Woodard also had a 53-yard run on a fly sweep around the left end, and had another catch of over 40 yards that set Lamar up for a first down inside the 10-yard line.

Lamar remained unbeaten in district play at 4-0, and the Texans have outscored their first four district foes 210-13. They have already sewn up a playoff spot and on Saturday will face 3-1 Bellaire, a team currently tied with Houston Westside for second place in District 18-6A. Lamar beat Bellaire 62-23 in the teams’ 2016 matchup. Bellaire and Lamar have the two largest enrollments of the schools in their district, so they will almost certainly be 18-6A’s two representatives in the 6A Division I playoff bracket. Based on the current standings and remaining schedule for the teams in District 17-6A, I predict Lamar will face Houston Cypress Ranch in the bi-district round of the playoffs in two weeks.

TE Malcolm Epps (Spring Dekaney)

Last week: Caught 2 passes for 37 yards in a 21-14 loss to Spring.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:00, vs. Aldine

Notes: Dekaney only gained 116 total yards and scored one offensive touchdown in its loss to Spring last week, but its defense helped keep the game close. Dekaney intercepted Aldine once, and its defense scored the game’s first points on a 30-yard fumble returned a for a TD early in the 1st quarter. Spring scored in the latter half of the 2nd quarter and the game was 7-7 at halftime. Spring took its first lead at 14-7 in the final minutes of the 3rd quarter, and the teams each scored once in the 4th. I haven’t seen a description of the game more detailed than that published online.

Spring kept things mostly on the ground, rushing for 290 yards and all three of their TDs on 48 carries, while Dekaney managed less than 2 yards per carry on 24 attempts. The only highlight from the game posted to Malcolm Epp’s Hudl page was not one of his three receptions but was instead a play in which he lined up attached next to the left tackle and pulled to the right and made a second level block to help his running back gain 11 yards.

The loss dropped Dekaney to 2-3 in district play, which tied the Wildcats with three other teams for fourth place in District 16-6A. If Dekaney wins out they will clinch a playoff spot and be placed in the 6A Division II bracket, since it has the second-smallest enrollment out of the district’s eight schools.

Tonight Dekaney will host Aldine High, which, as noted in last week’s post, last won a football game on October 24, 2015. With a win, Dekaney would extend Aldine’s losing streak to 20 games. Aldine is coming off a 73-0 loss last week to Spring Westfield, and has been outscored 173-7 in its last three games.

OL Rafiti Ghirmai (Frisco Wakeland)

Last week: Team beat Frisco Independence 27-17.

This week: Team beat Frisco Heritage on Thursday night, 38-14.

Notes: After dropping three straight games, Wakeland kept its playoff hopes alive with a win over Independence last week. Wakeland was out-gained on offense 444 yards to 301, and had just 12 first downs compared with Independence’s 21, but Wakeland’s defense forced four Independence turnovers (three of them coming on Independence’s final four drives) and ended four other Independence possessions with turnovers on downs.

The game was tied at 14 at halftime, then both teams made field goals on their first drives of the 3rd quarter, the latter of those two being a Wakeland field goal with 2:53 left in the 3rd. Independence’s subsequent possessions ended with a turnover on downs, lost fumble, turnover on downs, interception, and interception, while Wakeland’s final possessions of the game resulted in a 43-yard TD pass (on the first play after an Independence turnover on downs), punt, field goal (which extended their lead to 27-17 with 2:51 left in regulation), and punt.

Wakeland improved to 2-3 in district play, which ties them with Independence for 5th place in District 13-5A. With two games left, Wakeland needed to win on Thursday against 3-2 Heritage to have any shot at the postseason, and they got the job done and then some, outgaining Heritage 535-187 and finishing the game with 21 unanswered points after Heritage returned a kickoff for a TD with 9:48 left in the 2nd quarter to pull within 17-14.

Wakeland has reached the playoffs in four consecutive seasons and in six of the past seven seasons, and they’d obviously love to continue those runs. Wakeland can clinch 13-5A’s final playoff spot next week with a win over Frisco, a team that goes into its game tonight with an 0-8 season record.

OL Reese Moore (Seminole)

Last week: Caught 4 passes for 139 yards and had a game-tying two-point conversion catch in a 28-27 win over Sweetwater.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:00, vs. Fort Stockton

Notes: Moore had by far his biggest statistically productive game of the season in last week’s upset win over previously unbeaten and state-ranked Sweetwater. He caught four passes for 139 yards, with one of those receptions being a catch-and-run that covered 83 yards (not the 87 yards claimed in the below video’s title) and set Seminole up at the Sweetwater 10-yard line.

But his biggest grab of the night was on a successful two-point conversion attempt with 1:06 left in the 4th quarter that tied the game at 21. That conversion followed a 9-yard TD run that capped of a drive that was set up when Sweetwater went for it on 4th-and-inches with 2:34 left in regulation but was stopped short. Holding a 21-13 lead and with the ball at their own 35-yard line, Sweetwater elected to go for it, thinking that a first down conversion could ice the game, while a failure would, at worst, result in Seminole getting the ball back and tying the game with little time left on the clock. Sweetwater QB Chris Thompson, who rushed 13 times for 112 yards on the night, was unable to get the necessary yardage on a QB sneak on that consequential 4th down, keeping Seminole’s hopes alive.

The game went into overtime and Seminole scored a one-yard TD on its possession and made the PAT to go ahead 28-21. On Sweetwater’s possession, Thompson hit senior receiver Kobe Clark (who had 150 yards and 3 TDs on just four catches in the game) for an 18-yard TD pass, but Sweetwater missed on its PAT attempt, giving Seminole the win.

With the win Seminole remained unbeaten in district play at 5-0, and essentially clinched the championship of District 2-4A Division II, as the Indians have just one game left on their schedule and already have head-to-head wins over Sweetwater and Monahans, the two teams tied for 2nd with 3-1 records. Contra that reality, the Abilene Reporter-News’s story on the Seminole-Sweetwater game absurdly claimed “Sweetwater will be outright district champions” if they finish with wins over Monahans and Midland Greenwood, when their best case scenario is finishing in a tie with Seminole, a team they lost to. Seminole and Sweetwater met in the Region 1 final of the 4A Division II playoffs last season and there’s a good chance that could happen again this year, as they are arguably two of the three best teams in their region.

Seminole has a bye in Week 11 and tonight’s game over Fort Stockton (3-5 overall, 1-3 in district) will be their last regular season contest. Fort Stockton’s only district win was a 26-0 shutout of last place Lamesa, and in their other three district games they were outscored 120-13. Seminole will probably hope to get a big lead early on Parent Night and let their reserves play most of the second half.

DT Keondre Coburn (Spring Westfield)

Last week: Team beat Aldine 73-0.

This week: Team beat Aldine Eisenhower on Thursday night, 31-3.

Notes: Not much to say about last week’s game, other than that one of Class 6A’s top teams put 73 on the board against a team two years removed from its last win. If the game’s MaxPreps stats are accurate, Westfield limited Aldine to 85 total yards and scored TDs off a punt return and a fumble return, in addition to eight touchdowns scored by its offense.

Westfield did not make the top ten in this week’s AP poll for Class 6A, but TexasFootball.com ranks them 6th in their classification.

Thursday night’s 31-3 win over Eisenhower gave Westfield four straight dominating wins over Aldine ISD opponents by a collective score of 216-9. The Mustangs will finish their regular season next week against the fifth Aldine ISD school, Davis, which has a 2-5 district record going into tonight. I’ll have more on the win over Eisenhower in next week’s post.

Westfield clinched a share of the District 16-6A title with their win Thursday night. Westfield has the fifth-largest enrollment out of the eight schools in the district, so whether the Mustangs are slotted in the 6A Division I or Division II playoff brackets will depend on if Aldine MacArthur and/or Aldine Davis gets one of the district’s final playoff berths. If they do, Westfield is in Division II. If the district’s other three playoff slots end up going to Spring, Dekaney, and Nimitz, Westfield will be in the Division I bracket.

That’s one of the things I’ve never liked about the “large school” and small school divisions in 6A (formerly 5A): placement in one division or another has nothing to do with the resumé of a team or its accomplishments on the field and everything to do with its size compared with the others in its own district, specifically the enrollments of that district’s four best teams. To cite one example of several, most of DeSoto’s best teams of the current decade went to the playoffs in the Division I bracket but always ran into much larger powerhouse Allen in the regional final and was never able to get past them. Then with the last realignment the UIL put DeSoto in a district in which it had the third-smallest enrollment out of eight schools, which all but ensured the Eagles would be competing in the 6A Division II playoffs for the next two years. Sure enough, DeSoto made the 2016 playoffs and was put in the Division II bracket, and though they faced some pretty strong competition along the way, the Eagles avoided powers like Allen and The Woodlands and beat Cibolo Steele (whose enrollment is decidedly on the smaller end of the 6A spectrum) for the 6A Division II state title, while the Division I crown was won by Lake Travis, whose enrollment is actually less than DeSoto’s by some 300 students. Back to the column.

LB Ayodele Adeoye (IMG Academy - Bradenton, Florida)

Last week: Bye

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:00, at Hoover, Alabama

Notes: IMG had a bye last week and will play the last game of its regular season schedule on tonight against Alabama powerhouse Hoover. Hoover has won ten state championships dating back to the 2000 season. This season Hoover is 7-2; they were Alabama’s 2nd-ranked 7A team going into last week but lost 32-25 to 3rd-ranked Thompson, and subsequently dropped three spots to #5 in this week’s Alabama Sports Writers Association poll. Hoover’s previous loss was a season-opening 35-26 defeat on the road against Grayson of Loganville, Georgia, currently the 4th-ranked team in that state’s highest classification (7A).

Hoover has two receivers - a senior and a junior - who are committed to Auburn, a senior kicker committed to Nebraska, and a senior offensive lineman committed to Georgia Tech.

LB Byron Hobbs (Fort Worth Eastern Hills)

Last week: Team defeated Fort Worth Polytechnic 49-7.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:30, at Grapevine

Notes: Eastern Hills finally got back into the win column last week against one of their district’s two worst teams. Along with that, Byron Hobbs got back on the field for the first time since suffering a separated clavicle in Week 2. According to a tweet by his mother (in response to the tweet that linked followers to last week’s preview), Hobbs played about 20 snaps against Fort Worth Poly.

Stats from the game were not posted on MaxPreps, but a few clips from the game were posted on his his Hudl page. Looks like a future B-backer to me. Late in the video he can be seen pressuring Poly’s QB into a bad throw that gets intercepted and returned 90 yards for a TD by teammate Jo’Darius Robinson.

Eastern Hills led 28-7 at the half, and though the teams’ total offensive yardage and first downs were essentially even, Eastern Hills forced six Poly turnovers and scored one of their TDs on a blocked punt return.

Eastern Hills is now 3-5 overall and 1-4 in district play with two games left in their season. They have been eliminated from playoff contention. Tonight’s opponent, Grapevine, is 4-1 in district play and will likely finish as the runner-up in District 8-5A. Grapevine beat the Highlanders 51-26 when the teams faced off last season.

DB B.J. Foster (Angleton)

Last week: Had 15 carries for 62 yards and a TD, and caught 3 passes for 49 yards in a 30-7 win over Victoria West.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:00, at Richmond Foster

Notes: B.J. Foster didn’t have tremendous stats in last week’s win over Victoria West, but he did reach the end zone once and had 111 yards from scrimmage on 18 touches. Angleton remained undefeated at 7-0 and is tied with Highland Park for the #6 spot in this week’s 5A rankings. The Wildcats have outscored their seven opponents 379-21. Tonight’s game against Richmond Foster (5-2 overall, 4-0 in district) amounts to a championship game for District 27-5A.

A year ago, the Foster Falcons went 14-1 and reached the 5A Division I state semifinals, where they lost to eventual state-runner up Temple, 31-24. Foster was ranked earlier this season, but fell out of the rankings with losses to 5A Tomball and 6A Katy Cinco Ranch, two teams with a combined season record of 11-3. Foster defeated Angleton 35-14 in the teams’ 2016 matchup.

DB Jalen Green (Houston Heights)

Last week: Did not play in a 28-21 loss to Houston Westside.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:00, vs. Houston Chavez

Notes: Green hurt his collarbone in Week 7 and has been ruled out for the rest of the regular season. In his absence, Heights lost its second consecutive district game last week, which dropped the Bulldogs to 4th place in District 18-6A with a 3-2 record. Heights has already clinched a playoff spot and will finish its district schedule tonight against winless Houston Chavez then have a bye week before the playoffs begin.

Heights has the second-smallest enrollment out of the schools in its district, so they will be in the 6A Division II playoff bracket and likely get their district’s 2nd seed in that bracket. At the time of the last UIL realignment in February of 2016, Heights’s enrollment was reported to be 2,335. Every school in neighboring District 17-6A has over 3,000 students, so Heights will be at a numbers disadvantage regardless of which bi-district opponent they draw to start the playoffs. My guess is their first round opponent will be Langham Creek, a team that is currently 7-0 and whose school has over 800 more students than does Heights.

DB D’Shawn Jamison (Houston Lamar)

Last week: Returned a punt 69 yards for a TD in a 63-6 win over Sam Houston Math Science & Tech.

Saturday, November 4 at 6:00, at Houston Bellaire

Notes: Jamison took his only punt return of last week’s game all the way to the house. This season he has scored TDs on a punt return, kickoff return, and an interception return.

DB DeMarvion Overshown (Arp)

Last week: Rushed 5 times for 92 yards and 2 TDs, and caught one pass for a 23-yard TD in a 35-33 win over Troup.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:30, vs. Harleton.

Notes: Overshown scored three times on just six offensive touches. His scoring runs covered 48 and 50 yards. Those TDs came in the first half and helped Arp build a 21-7 halftime lead. His TD reception came in the 3rd quarter.

Arp is, for the moment, in 4th place in District 8-3A Division II. A win over Harleton (1-7 overall, 1-3 in district) tonight would clinch a playoff spot for the Tigers, while a loss would mean Harleton gets the district’s final playoff spot, provided that Troup loses to district leaders West Rusk and Waskom in its final two games. Arp will not only be looking to punch their ticket to the postseason, but also to avoid the ignominy of missing out on the playoffs one season removed from reaching the state semifinals.

DB Caden Sterns (Cibolo Steele)

Last week: Made 3 tackles in a 50-14 win over San Antonio East Central.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:30, vs. San Antonio Wagner

Notes: Steele finally got its season record back to .500 with an easy win last week over a winless East Central team. For the second straight week the majority of QB snaps went to freshman Wyatt Begeal, who completed 9 of 13 passes for 214 yards and 2 TDs but also threw his first varsity interception. Bowling Green wide receiver commit Onyx Smith, who began the season as Steele’s starting QB for the first time, has caught 9 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown in three games since moving back to his more familiar wide receiver position.

Steele is 3-2 in district play and tied with New Braunfels for 4th place in District 27-6A. Steele can clinch a playoff spot with a win tonight over Wagner (3-5 overall, 0-5 in district) combined with a New Braunfels loss to Schertz Clemens.

K Cameron Dicker (Lake Travis)

Last week: Made 5 of 5 PAT attempts and made a 24-yard field goal in a 44-0 win over Leander.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:30, vs. Cedar Park Vista Ridge

Notes: Dicker was successful on all six of his field goal/PAT attempts, and 3 of his 8 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. Lake Travis is 3-1 in district play, which ties the Cavaliers for 2nd place in District 25-6A with Cedar Park Vista Ridge. They can clinch a playoff spot with a win tonight over Vista Ridge.

2019 Texas Longhorn football commit

QB Roschon Johnson (Port Neches-Groves)

Last week: Completed 10 of 14 passes for 172 yards and 3 TDs, and rushed 20 times for 57 yards and 2 TDs in a 62-27 win over Beaumont Central.

This week: Friday, November 3 at 7:00, vs. Beaumont Ozen

Notes: Roschon Johnson continued his season-long streak of games in which he produced four or more total touchdowns. Two Johnson TD passes and a pick-six gave Port Neches-Groves a 20-0 lead going into the 2nd quarter. PN-G later led 34-14 at halftime and outscored Central 28-13 in the second half. According to the game’s box score, PN-G only gained 338 total yards, but they took advantage of six Central turnovers, which probably gave them at least a few short fields to start drives.

PN-G is 7-0 overall and 6-0 in district play, which puts them atop the District 22-5A standings. The Indians have already clinched a playoff berth and will clinch a share of the district title with a win tonight over 1-4 Ozen. 22-5A is made up of mostly smaller-than-average schools for the 5A level, with only two of its nine schools having enrollments north of 1,600 at the last realignment (5A schools have between 1,100 and 2,149 students). PN-G will likely get the district’s top seed in the 5A Division II playoff bracket. The final playoff representatives from District 21-5A have yet to be determined, but PN-G’s most likely bi-district playoff opponents appear to be Mt. Belvieu Barbers Hill and New Caney.