ARLINGTON – The Joseph family legacy continued on Saturday at the state championships in Arlington. Jeff Joseph, in his second season as head coach with Port Neches-Groves, won the Class 5A Division 2 title 20-17 over SOC at AT&T Stadium.
Joseph’s father is four-time state champ Gary Joseph at Katy.
Thanks to a record-breaking performance from Gio Oceguera and a late onside kick, the Indians defeated the Golden Bears in a rematch of the 2022 final and won their first football championship since 1975 – and fourth overall.
SOC (13-3) had beaten the Indians 34-24 in last year’s final
The Golden Bears came in having won 5A D2 in back-to-back years – knocking off Liberty Hill 23-14 during the 2021 season.
Oceguera made four field goals on the day – breaking the 5A state champ game record previously held by Kevin Marcotte from Austin Lake Travis, who had three in 2011. The four is also tied for most all time in any class – tied with Todd Tschantz from Lake Highlands, who had four in 1981.
PNG’s Max Scroggs was defensive MVP with eight tackles and a fumble recovery. He also recovered the onside kick that would turned into the go-ahead scoring drive for the Indians.
Oceguera nailed his fourth field goal to pull PNG within 17-12 with 7:39 left in the fourth quarter. It capped off a 13 play 74 yard drive that ate up nearly six minutes. Then Joseph called for the onside and Scroggs recovered it at the SOC 48.
SOC was called for defensive pass interference in the end zone and PNG had a fresh set of downs at the 2. Two plays later the ball moved to the 1 after an off-sides on SOC. Shea Adams went on to score on a 1-yard TD run and Isaiah Nguyen ran in the two-point try that gave the Indians a three-point lead with 3:32 left.
The Golden Bears last effort kept going backwards.
On second and 10, William Little was sacked for a loss of four. On third and 14, SOC was flagged for a false start. On third and 19, Little was sacked for a loss of seven. Then on fourth and 26, SOC went for a short pass and lateral, but it was bottled up by several PNG defenders as the Indians took over on downs, kneeled it once and started the celebration.
PNG out gained SOC 281-162.
QB Connor Bailey was 14 of 24 for 179 yards. Nguyen led PNG with 111 yards on 19 carries. Oceguera also connected in kicks from 32, 31 and 21 yards. His fourth was good from 23. His first gave PNG a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. His third gave the Indians a 9-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
SOC was led by Danny Green Jr., who scored both touchdowns for the Golden Bears and finished with 13 carries for 104 yards. Diego Varela hit from 31 yards with 12 seconds left in the first half that gave SOC a 10-9 edge at the break.
