Now
76
Mon
83
Tue
84
by Kierstin Lindkvist
The helmets and pads are back on, and the Titans are back on the Port Arthur Memorial High School gridiron.
"It's refreshing. it reminds you that you go so long between football seasons. It's reminding us of the fun and the kids enjoy it," head coach Brian Morgan said. "The weather has been great, so that's been really nice. Not hot yet, so the guys have had the chance to get out and do some good things on both sides of the ball."
"It feels good getting back hitting. We always like to hit. It's just something we like to do," junior defensive end, Kentrell Roberts added. "We're ready. Ain't even nothing we need to talk about. We're ready."
The Titans finished in a three-way tie for second in the district last season with a 6-2 record, losing their last three games, including the bi-district round of the playoffs. It's a trend the Titans have seen in the last few years.
"I think for us it's important just to clean up a lot of little things. we're teaching a lot to the young guys," Morgan said. "We're fortunate that we have a lot of young guys returning from last year's team, so for us, it's just a chance for the young guys to learn the schemes. we can figure out if they can help us.
So in practices just like the one our sports team attended, the attention is all on the newbies taking the field.
"The last couple of years, we've played guys when they were young when they were sophomores and freshmen, so hopefully we benefit from that and you see a veteran team," Morgan said. "I know there are some talented kids running around and hopefully that pays off for us in the fall."
Plus with conference realignment throwing Beaumont United and West Brook into the 5A mix, the Titans will need to be at their best if they want to be in the playoff conversation.
"More than anything we're just going to be different. You have a different identity. We graduated some good players," Morgan said. "It's just the natural kind of attrition of personnel leaving that you have to replace, and it may not be the exact same type of player. Maybe you have to change the scheme a little bit here and there, but it's just teaching young guys what we do and getting them in the mix to see whether they can help us as sophomores and juniors."
"It's good for the communities. the people in the communities work together, work with each other, know each other, and work in the refineries. A lot of the kids know each other, play sports outside of football and outside of school sports with them," he added about the new additions to their district. "They compete against them in other sports throughout the season, throughout the year. so it's good. we know a lot of familiar faces and have seen them since middle school, so it's fun for these kids to compete against one another."
It's a next-up mentality that is a gamble that teams like the Port Arthur Memorial Titans have no choice in, and the hopes that the gamble pays off in the fall.
"We at least got to go past the fourth round this year," Roberts said. "We're just really trying to do whatever we can to get as best as we can and move on forward really. We just really got to be disciplined and keep our energy high, and then, other than that, we're good.
