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From Houston Chronicle: Quote of the night: “First and foremost, I believe that God does everything for a reason. It was a blessing just having the opportunity to come back out here and compete with my brothers. We just came up a little short this year.” - North Shore QB Kaleb Bailey

There were so many non calls, holding, face mask, push in the back, PI. Then towards the end of the game, suddenly it seemed, flags began flying. I wish the refs would've stopped all that stuff earlier, although they did finally call the hit to the head on #2. Always seems like there's a #2 on these types of teams.

This will be a tough game. SOC, similar to Texas City, PAM, and a few others, they will push the envelope on personal fouls until they get a few called, then they back off but not without complaining. Last year the SOC coach really complained loudly at the refs for the PF calls. The difference last year was the sheer athleticism of the SOC receivers. The passes were basically hail Marys, and the receivers and DBs were on their own. Sort of like LH last Friday night.

I've never seen more razzle dazzle trick plays and hail Marys in all my life. The LH relies solely on luck when they know they're playing a better team. I only liked them. But when that kid on the sideline stepped onto the field and caught that punt, then I loved and admired them. Still, it's like loving a swarm of mosquitoes that just won't go away. Congrats to both teams.

We're not. We're looking squarely at LH, and we're ready to play the game.

Yeah, and a big shame. Hopefully all of the family members of players, bands, drill teams, cheerleaders, and all other students that are involved in some way, will be able to attend the game in person. PNG especially, has a very large band and drill team, as well as a pretty large football team, and many other students that are involved. When you multiply each student x 2 or 3 or 4 or probably more, family members, you're probably well over 1000-1500 tickets already, before counting the student body attendees. I always get a kick out of the various shirts I see at the games. "# so-and-so's mee-maw", or "so-and-so's pawpaw". God bless 'em.

Prayed, for his family and friends. Sorry for ya'll's loss; by all accounts Coach East appears to have been a good guy, and good friend to many.

+1 For the record, I like LH, and I enjoyed watching last year's game, win or lose. The previous 2 games last season against ALBJ and FBM were hard fought tough games; and the previous 2 games this season against MLC and Huntsville were both pretty tough games, and we didn't escape either game without a few injuries. I'm looking forward to this Friday's game, and also hope it's a clean, injury free game. Edit: Also hoping for good refs.

Good deal. Thanks for posting that. Many of last years' SOC team are playing on Saturdays now.

If he's the same big lineman that played in last year's championship game, he spent pretty much the whole game trying to keep his pants pulled up. I mean no disrespect whatsoever towards the young man, and wish him the best. I'm just saying that he had trouble with his football pants in last year's title game. A larger problem for PNG in last year's game was pass coverage on defense, and (IMO) a worn out running back on offense. (Very simply put.)

The comment about where the best coaches live? That's around the 3:37 mark.

In many ways Huntsville was a tougher game than LC. With LC, their points came off of 1 busted coverage and 2 fumbles. Huntsville actually had a sustained drive on their own. (And 1 drive with very obvious assistance from the refs.) Like the sentiment in the quoted post says, watch out for Huntsville in 2024.

We'll see.

SETX teams are accustomed to be playing in heat, humidity, rain, refinery and paper mill odors, plant explosions, hurricanes, and heavy fog. But I think they like it at NRG and Jerry World just fine. The Indians have had a tough couple of games for the past 2 weeks, but I think they'll be ok against LH as far as the off and def lines are concerned, and the DBs and LBs as well.

Good question. I believe that he did, based on the writeup for the game. [Hidden Content]

True, dat.

Hey man! I see a few LH folks on the NDN Press fb site also. Looking forward to a great game!

I think one of those seats ended up being mine. Just before the half I was in line at the concession stand for probably 15 minutes, and there must have been 100 people in line with me, and probably 100-200 or so more just milling around or standing watching from the covered area behind the lower deck. In fact I stood up in that area behind the lower deck for much of the first half, because I couldn't see well from where I was on the upper deck. After the half I found a couple of seats over on the end at the 5 or 10 yard line. The NRG venue sure was nice last night, with the live video and replays on the scoreboards. But I'll buy tickets for next Friday, at this so-called small stadium, even if we sit on the LH side.

+2 (WRT PNG bamatex) An aside ... last night the Baytown Bucees was a sea of purple. You could've stirred it with a stick.

I've thought the same thing; but they sure do seem to run a lot of set-up plays. I'm sure they know what they're doing, but hopefully will not out-think themselves. Regardless, PNG will be ready.

I've never cared for TM, but I suffered through it and got our tickets. This should be a good game, similar to the MLC game; but I'm thinking there will be a few changes made by PNG from the MLC game. We'll see.

They're already selling tickets, apparently, via Ticketmaster. I haven't seen a link yet for PNG. [Hidden Content]

Yeah it was #15. BTW, regarding behavior, there are some real idiots (for lack of a better word) that attend these playoff games. Really obnoxious.

I still don't know any confirmed, for sure, details about PNG's coaching change. I'm just a somewhat casual observer, though, and haven't pushed or nosed around for any details. But I do know that Faircloth and his family were fairly popular with players and PNG families. A dedicated PNG sports site even has a separate place in the forum dedicated to him, and folks still follow the team that he now coaches. There were several players that quit football over it. Of course, the kids that stuck it out enjoyed last years' success, and so this year several of the boys that left, returned, and are part of this years' team. I don't think Coach J. was very widely popular at first with last year's team. He worked them very hard. Only the kids that wanted it, stuck it out. Especially after the first game, the disaster home game against Memorial, PNG's worst home opener ever, many folks were shaking their heads. By the end of the season last year, almost all of the above was forgotten.