PN-G bamatex

Well, I think we can all agree on one thing. United needs more preparation for 6A.

This will be a much better game than last year. I’m taking my Indians, but by no more than a touchdown.

You remember last year, when PN-G took the worst season opener loss in school history to Memorial, 50-15 in Port Neches, and then turned around and beat United 49-0 at BISD’s [insert name here] Stadium the very next week? Apparently nobody in 6A does.

I actually got to attend this game. I have some thoughts. Let’s start with the bad. Our offense had issues tonight. Shea needs some more time with his receiver corps. Passes were close, but imprecise. I heard the announcer say the words “nearly intercepted” too many times. Ball security was an issue. Now, I don’t think that’s a reflection of Shea’s potential. I think that’s the result of a combination of early season jitters and a very tall, speedy, talented Memorial secondary. Likewise, Nguyen had an uncharacteristically rough night. Here again, early season jitters and a pretty stout Memorial defensive line. We know what Adams and Nguyen are capable of. We saw it last year. The good news here is, everything I’m listing off can be fixed in practice, and we’ve got a coach with a proven track record of fixing these issues in practice. None of this is a talent issue. Take away two fumbles and a bad snap and tonight would have seen a different ball game. Now let’s talk about the good. The Indian defense is a force to be reckoned with. They kept us in this game for three and a half quarters despite the offensive miscues and mistakes. They only started to yield to fatigue for about the last six minutes of play, and it was because they were spending too much time on the field. Our lines are big on both sides of the ball. I watched our offensive line open up some huge holes for Shea, and our defensive line found ways to get into the backfield all night. Richard is a ball player. I’m looking forward to watching this Sabanesque 3-4 defense mature at PN-G. I also want to note that this was mostly a clean game. Not a lot of penalties, what few were had mostly came toward the end of the game, and most importantly, no injuries. Despite the result, I really enjoyed this up until the end. The PN-G fan base was the most amped up I’ve seen it for a pre-district game in a long, long time. I’m glad to see the state title run have some staying power in terms of community support. The band, Indianettes, twirlers and cheerleaders all looked fantastic. Once we get everything firing on all cylinders (I think sooner rather than later), this will be a fun season to be a part of. I’m going to throw some props to Memorial. They have a talented, physical, well coached team. I was really pleased to see their fan support. After playing so many games last year where opposing teams brought so few fans, it’s nice to play another team that can fill the stands. I enjoyed their band - worlds of improvement over what I recall when I last attended a Memorial game six years ago. This is the first time I’ve seen the new field and scoreboard. They looked crisp. All in all, this was one of the more enjoyable atmospheres I’ve seen at a PN-G away game. The Titans have a good season ahead. Lastly, I really like seeing PN-G play talented teams like Memorial early in the season. They do a great job of exposing our weaknesses and telling us what we need to work on. I hope that continues into future seasons. In particular, I’d like to see us keep the series with Memorial alive. Lots of history between PN-G and Port Arthur. Given time, I believe this series will develop into a rivalry. (Revivalry?) Mid-County Madness would be complemented by a recurring South County Showdown.

Was the final score 24-21 PN-G or 24-14 PN-G? I'm hearing both.

So they’re saying it’s a literal *hot seat* that caused the fire in West Orange’s stadium? 😂 [patiently waits to get banned from commenting on WO-CCISD Facebook posts]

Preface: I live a stone's throw from Liberty Hill these days and spend a lot of time there. The day PN-G and Liberty Hill played last season, I threw on my PN-G gear and stopped at the Liberty Hill Dairy Queen for lunch before hitting the road to Katy. I respect everything the Panther program has accomplished. By no means should this post be construed as me downplaying their success. It's asinine to reduce PN-G to "a good story" and suggest the Indians haven't shown longevity comparable to Liberty Hill's when, over the last ten seasons, the Indians have won 71% of their games, finished four seasons with ten or more wins and finished the season in the third round of the playoffs or higher five times. Keep in mind that one of those ten win seasons occurred despite a game cancellation caused by Hurricane Harvey. Granted, Liberty Hill sports a better playoff record and a higher win percentage (79%) over the same time period. Liberty Hill was also 4ADI for seven of those ten seasons; didn't contend with three hurricanes, record-shattering rainfall from a fourth tropical cyclone, undue humiliation wrought by undeserved national media hysteria and a major industrial explosion during that period; and plays in a generally weaker region than PN-G. Liberty Hill is also a fast-growing and much more affluent community than anywhere in Southeast Texas, and has been showering its school district with extravagant resources for well over a decade. A recent former Liberty Hill school board member told me last year that roughly half of LHISD students today have out-of-state birth certificates. If we're going to bring longevity into the argument, let's account for the wildly disparate levels of adversity. There's more to this game than the surface-level numbers. Put the two teams on the same football field and I'll take the purple and white over the purple and gold any damn day of the week.

This will be the best Week 1 game in Texas. Both teams are very talented. Both are quickly gaining (or perhaps better put, regaining) statewide prominence. Expect a thriller. One thing I’ll say about the low number of returning starters at PN-G: Coach Joseph likes to make a lot of substitutions, and that seemed to become more commonplace the further PN-G went in the playoffs. Just because we have a new starter this season, doesn’t mean that kid doesn’t have a similar level of experience to the returning starter suiting up next to him.

I wouldn't make any assumptions just yet.

That's not exactly how it went down, but the school board and administration deserve full credit for making the right decision when they were presented with the option.

It's the Legislature's prerogative. Speaking from experience, I wouldn't suggest telling them that.

The UIL is an appendage of the UT System, which is a state institution. Ergo, it falls under the Legislature's purview either way.

If anything, it's more like a genetic exchange program.

We'll see. Either way, we'll still have Dodge's number in seven years. 😎

I second every word of this post, the emboldened lines in particular. The game planning this season couldn't be beat, and the support PN-G enjoyed from the rest of Southeast Texas was deeply, deeply appreciated by the PN-G community.

Half the Houston-area schools we play think the 's' is silent in Groves, too. 😑

You have any idea how many boxes of pecans I picked up out of my grandmother’s yard down in “the” Groves back in the day? 😉

The Dodge contract was on $5K, plus an option to spend an additional $5K for additional consultation during this football season if needed. To my knowledge, that option was never exercised.

Must be a generational thing. That wasn’t the case when I was in high school.

PN-G is 5-5 versus Nederland over the last ten seasons.

I must have misinterpreted the post, then, because I've never heard anyone say that. I actually lived in Groves for the first six years of my life, before moving to Port Neches at the start of kindergarten. When I think back on our star athletes when I was in school, they were pretty evenly split. Port Neches may have had a slight advantage. What I have heard more times than I can count - mostly from Nederland fans - is some version of, "PN-G has two towns and Nederland only has one, so y'all will always have the advantage." That always struck me as a poor excuse for losing, especially considering how much of Port Neches is in Nederland ISD. Most of the students at Highland Park Elementary are actually Port Neches residents.

Neither does PN-G, or at least not a whole one. Pull up the district lines and city limits on Google Earth. Nederland ISD has all of Nederland, about a quarter of the city of Port Neches, all of Beauxart and Central Gardens and nearly all of the real estate in Port Arthur between FM 365 and Jimmy Johnson Boulevard. Port Arthur ISD has basically all of Groves south of Highway 73. PN-GISD only has what’s left of Port Neches and Groves, plus a sliver of Port Arthur around Lake Arthur Drive. Add all that up, and PN-GISD and Nederland ISD have roughly the same amount of residents, which is why they typically have roughly the same amount of students. Just about every realignment that I’ve seen a student census, the difference between their high school student bodies has been roughly a hundred students (~7% of total student population) or less. Some years PN-G has been bigger, some years Nederland has been bigger. Demographically, the two districts are almost indistinguishable from each other. I can’t believe I’m about to say this. Smitty has a point here.

I hear you. Marshall will be talented, as always. I recognize that Marshall has a great shot at another district crown. We've got talent coming up the ranks, too. A lot of the younger talent saw a lot of playing time this year, owing to the outstanding job Coach Joseph does of substituting in the reserves to keep the starters fresh, and to the six extra games we got in during the playoffs. Three key differences between when we met Marshall the first time in September and when we met Marshall two and a half weeks ago. First, the district game was at Marshall, whereas the playoff game was at a neutral site with a whole lot more PN-G fans in the stands. Second, when we played Marshall the first time this year, our kids hadn't fully bought into Coach Joseph's system yet. They definitely did so by the time we met Marshall in the playoffs. Third, we played Marshall the first time at 1 PM on a Saturday afternoon. The temperature on the field was well over 100 degrees, and according to my sources, Marshall only provided the visiting team with eight cases of water. Knowing those differences, let's project next year's game. First, it will be a home game for the Indians with 7-8K PN-G fans in the stands. Second, Joseph will have had a stellar first season and a full offseason to get the kids fully acclimated to his style of play, not to mention better conditioned. Third, it's an evening game, and we practically breathe water in Jefferson County thanks to all that humidity. I like our odds. 😎

Here are my way-too-early predictions. 9-5ADII: PN-G Fort Bend Marshall Dayton Texas City The second and third seeds are interchangeable. Texas City has the talent to do better. We'll see whether they can pair it with the coaching and execution. Until then, I think the Stingarees are the perennial fourth seed. I feel confident the Indians take the district championship next year. Jeff Joseph is building something in Port Neches. And I hate to say this (honestly), but I don't think Nederland will return to its winning ways next year. 10-4ADI: LC-M Lumberton Vidor Livingston Same as 9-5ADII. The top three are interchangeable. LC-M is my dark horse pick to win district next year. This will be Peevey's third season at the helm of the program, and I think we're going to start to see it pay off. 9-4ADII: Silsbee Jasper WO-S H-F I don't enjoy saying this. I don't think we're going to see WO-S at the top of the district again until they bring back the Mustang defense. You know, the real one. Until then, I just don't see Silsbee losing the district crown, or Jasper being dethroned as runner-up. Hamshire-Fannett could fall out of the playoff line-up, but I suspect we'll see the Longhorns turn into the recurring fourth seed in this district. I'm still debating the 6A and 5ADI standings. I only feel confident saying two things at this time: (1) PAM will be a contender as always (and I really hope they make a deeper run next year); and (2) I don't think West Brook or United will make much noise.

If the issue is attendance, then let's address the issues underlying declining attendance. In sum: The increasing popularity of watching livestreams and broadcasts of the games, instead of actually going to them. Distance, both with respect to convenience and to the costs of transportation and lodging. Weather, which is less of an issue in domed stadiums but still factors into travel. Rotating locations probably isn't going to address all of those issues very well. If you move the championship games from AT&T to NRG and you have another year where four greater D-FW area schools are playing in four out of twelve championship games, you're probably going to see even lower attendance. Will shorter drives for greater Houston-area schools improve their attendance numbers? Probably. Enough to offset the losses among Dallas-area fans, overall? That's anybody's guess, but I'm skeptical. I know the UIL will never do this, but if the UIL really wants to gin up attendance numbers, reinstitute the ban on live broadcasts of the games. Make going to the game the only option to see the game in realtime. Regarding location, I think the smart play by the UIL would be to contract with multiple stadiums across the state, like AT&T, NRG, the Alamodome, DKR and Kyle Field, and assign championship sites based on which locations are the closest to being equidistant from the two high schools competing in each game. Would that improve attendance numbers? Probably in some games (I guarantee you that playing in Houston or College Station would have increased PN-G's already impressive numbers from last Friday), but I'm skeptical that it would increase attendance across the board. Either way, I suspect it would reduce the cost borne by most of the involved schools to get their students to the games, and generally make it easier on traveling families. Again, I know it's something the UIL will probably never do because of the cost to itself, the problems that would cause with respect to media coverage and the UIL's obvious preference for broadcasting games.