My kids and I enjoyed the Indians win at Stallworth. My 7-year old twins love the pageantry of the Indian band, Indianettes, Indian Spirit, cheerleaders, twirlers, the run through signs, etc. PN-G dominated the game from the pre-game exercises and warm-ups until we left with 3+ minutes to go in the game and the score was 48-10.
Several penalties tonight for blocks in the back and holding. It's correctable. Need to clean up the PAT protection...Lee came through like the protection was swiss cheese and blocked a PAT. I'm not a fan of pooch or short directional kick-offs, but the PN-G kick-off team executed several of them and looked good doing it.
Offense...hard to judge...Lee is not very good and the Indians jumped on them 27-0 in the first half. After that, both teams played out the game just going through the motions. The PN-G QB, #2, throws the prettiest deep ball I've seen from a HS QB. Better than Richy Ethridge, Todd Dodge, Dustin Long, or anyone else. He throws with such touch, it is hard to believe he is a sophmore. He is a fantastic QB. What more can you say about his ability to extend plays and either run it or throw it to the open man. His stats would have been better in the passing game but the Indians had some drops (I can count 4 that I remember being drops with the intended WR open enough to make the catch). The OL gave the QB time to throw for the most part. The fumble by McZeal on the jet sweep should have been an incomplete pass...the refs missed that call, but it was 21-0 at the time, so no worries.
Defense...Lee runs a slow and disorganized version of the Slot-T. They do not have the polish and efficiency of Vidor's version. The Indians shut down Lee until our kids became disinterested in the game at 41-3. PN-G rotated a lot of kids in the second half so the yardage and scores by Lee are skewed. In the first half, PN-G forced Lee into several negative plays. PN-G's front 7 unit has enough mojo to go toe-to-toe with just about anybody they will play. Tonight, the secondary came up in run support and did well. Hard for the defense to stay amped up and totally shut out Lee when the score is 41-3 and subs are coming in and out. Bring on Vidor's Slot-T...PN-G will hit you in the run game. The defense is not afraid to put some helmets on you and get you to the ground.
Tonight's unis...gray helmets with a purple and white feather logo and trim, white shirts with purple numerals, and gray pants. I was hoping to see the all-white storm trooper look. Those look sharp. The purple/white/gray combo was not too shabby.
Clean up the penalties, shore-up the blocking protection for PATs, tighten up the OL run blocking a tad, and defend the pass as best you can (bend but don't break...and don't get beat deep)...PN-G will be in and have a shot to win its remaining games...including Port Arthur Memorial. These kids play hard.
Lee's homecoming was different...small band (maybe 25-30 kids) and a host of homecoming princesses and a homecoming king from the football team. Lee may have had more homecoming princesses than they had band members. The Baytown Lee of the 1970s and 1980s is long gone...no more greatness in the Ganders program. Small numbers, not a lot of talent, and no fan/community support. I give credit to the REL kids who are in their programs and giving what they have to give, but GCISD should consider consolidating Lee with Sterling or Goose Creek Memorial. Lee has dwindled to the level of a JV-program.
Go Indians...Peace.