La Porte at Port Arthur Memorial Preview

The La Porte Bulldogs travel to Port Arthur this week to take on the Port Arthur Memorial Titans in the regular season finale.  Both teams have clinched a playoff berth and this game will decide the district 21-5A championship.  If La Porte wins it will be a outright championship for the Bulldogs.

The game also is a rematch of the Region III playoff finals last season in Reliant Stadium where Port Arthur beat La Porte 34-6.  La Porte won last year's regular season match-up 24-20.  The playoff game last season was the only time the Titans have defeated the Bulldogs in school history (1-6).

This season La Porte has a 8-1 record after last weeks defeat of North Shore.  Port Arthur also has a 8-1 record with their only loss to North Shore earlier in the season.  Last week the Titans defeated Beaumont West Brook 49-17.

Port Arthur Memorial on offense likes to spread the field with four good receivers.  Senior Quarterback Ricky Fisk leads the team in passing and rushing (1724 yards and 17 tds passing; 810 yards and 10 tds rushing) and is a dynamic playmaker. The Bulldogs will need to slow him down to win this week.  Junior Receiver Roderic Rucker (40 catches, 686 yards, 8 tds) leads the receivers.  Not too far behind him are Junior Albert Jacobs and Senior Receivers John and Brandon Leday.  Freshman Running Back Kameron Martin is the leading runner with 319 yards and 4 touchdowns.  If Fisk has time to throw he is a threat to scramble, run or find an open receiver.  Senior Mathew Romar is a very good defensive tackle, but also plays goaline running back (6 touchdowns).

La Porte's defense came up huge last week against North Shore.  They bottled up a very good quarterback and forced quick decisions due to heavy pressure up front.  That being said Port Arthur has a much better passing game than North Shore.  Junior Linebacker Trevor Nelson and Senior Linebacker Alex Jones plugged up the North Shore running game, Jones had an interception and fumble recovery.  The defensive line of Seniors Corey Lee and Mark Guzman and Junior Lane Albertson were very busy getting through the North Shore offensive line and got a very good push up front.  Junior Linebacker Hoza Scott makes plays all over the field and his speed will be very important this week bottling up the spread attack.  The secondary will be tested, but is very experienced with Seniors Ellis Hutchinson and Malik Graves to go along with Juniors Vic Holmes and John Nelson.  Open field tackling will be very important.

Port Arthur's defense is the best in 21-5A so far yardage given up, but are equal to La Porte in scoring defense, giving up 16 points per game.  Senior Defensive Tackle Mathew Romar is a highly recruited player who has many college offers.  The experienced Titan's secondary is very good with Senior James Jenkins and TJ Levine leading the team with two interceptions a piece.  The Titans are not as strong at the linebacker position this year after losing four to college scholarships last season, this has contributed to a weaker run defense this season (180 yards per game given up).  La Porte will try to exploit this.

La Porte's offense is lead by Senior Running Back Keith Whitely (1233 yards, 9 tds) who had a great game last week against a very tough North Shore defense (173 yards, 2 tds).  Junior Running Back Jonathan Lewis (866 total yards, 14 tds) shows explosive playmaking ability on the ground and as a receiver; and if he gets daylight he is gone.  Junior Quarterback Jordan Jackson (828 yards, 16 tds) did not throw much last week, but it was not needed.  Jackson has shown a great deep ball to loosen up opposing defenses.  The offensive line gave North Shore fits last week and will be looking to continue their dominance.

This week features teams with two very different styles. One thing that is the same between the two teams is their physical style of play which should be no different this week, expect a very hard hitting game.

Keys for La Porte:
1. They will need to pressure Fisk into making quick decisions and not losing containment on him in the backfield.
2. Cover the receiver long enough for the front seven to get to the QB.
3. Get the running game moving all game long, sustaining long drives and keeping the Port Arthur offense off the field as much as possible.

The winner this week avoids playing Manvel in the first round of the playoffs which is definitely worth playing for.