Knight’s defense holds Memorial to 10 points through three quarter
Fresh off the Class 5A Division II Title a year ago, the Knights comfortably pulled up a chair in Houston and enjoyed their stay.
Nebraska’s commit, QB Tommy Armstrong had a hand in five touchdowns and the Cibolo Steele Knight’s defense held Port Arthur Memorial to 10 points through three quarters to claim a 51-31 victory in the Class 5A Division II Semifinals Saturday evening at Reliant Stadium.
With the win, Steele (15-0) advanced to the title game for the second consecutive season where it will face Spring Dekaney, who defeated Mansfield Timberview 56-19 to reach the final, which will be played at Cowboy Stadium next Saturday night at 8:00 p.m.
Minus star running back Malcolm Brown, now at the University of Texas, dual-threat Armstrong stepped to the forefront with four rushing TDs (4, 9, 10 and 81 yards) and one through the air, a 13-yard dart to TE Marcus O’learnick. Armstrong accounted for 248 of Steele’s 520 total yards. He was 6 of 10, passing for 109 yards with 11 carries for 139 yards rushing. Backfield mate, sophomore RB Justin Stockton added 198 yards on 11 carries with a TD and junior WR Mathew Mayle caught three passes for 91 yards.
“I pretty much saw that they were in man coverage. That created those holes for us,” said Tommy Armstrong, Steele’s QB. We just owe it all to our offensive line. I give our offensive line credit each week because they make us a better team.”
“We just came out here and played like we always do. We prepare well in practice and we practice how we play. We just came out here and dominated to show people that we want that ring,” said Steele’s RB Justin Stockton.
LB Ross Luensmann, who played out of his mind and junior DB Erik Huhn spearheaded a tenacious defense that limited the Titans to 75 first half yards.
“We practiced hard all week, our motto last year; we had a bunch of big guys. I think in my mind this year we’re like a well oiled machine. We all get along, we’re all best friends. We raise each other up when we’re down,” said Ross Luensmann Steele’s LB.
After a 29-yard field goal, Steele turned two turnovers into nine points. The first, when junior DT Cory Staud intercepted a screen pass intended for RB Nathan Holmes at the 17 of Memorial and returned it to the 13. A few plays later, Armstrong capped the drive with a 10-yard scoring run to give Steele a 7-3 lead after Evan Kotzur’s PAT.
For Port Arthur Memorial (13-2), breaks were non-existing. RB Nathan Holmes decision to bring the ball out of the end zone on the kick return proved to be disastrous. He was wrestled down at the Titan’s 3-yard line and Luensmann made sure Memorial would stay deep in it’s own territory when he took down Titan’s QB Terrance Singleton at the 1-yard to force a punt. On the next play, punter Tayylor Labrie, now in punting position stepped on the line in the back of the end zone, resulting in a safety, returning possession back to the Knights. That was pretty much the undoing of the Titans.
“The kids did a great job; they did everything we asked them to do, from off season to this point. I couldn’t be more proud of them. A special group of kids, the best group of seniors I’ve been around. I just wished I could have delivered a state championship to these kids. Had it not been for the interception early on, we may have had a chance to turn things around,” said Kenny Harrison, Port Arthur Memorial’s coach.
From that point, Steele delivered the knockout punch, scoring touchdowns on all four of its second quarter drives to take a commanding 37-10 halftime lead. Armstrong opened the second quarter with a 4-yard TD run before the Knights executed Back to back one-play TDs possessions (Stockton’s 93-yard run) and Armstrong’s 81-yarder.
Michael Jinks, Steele’s coach said, “We’re playing good football right now and we’re healthy. This year we had the injury bug a little and we battled from that but at the same time we created some depth. A lot of the young kids stepped up and I’m proud of our team.”
Then, Port Arthur Memorial trimmed the lead 23-10, marching 75-yards, in 9-plays, capped on Singleton’s 10-yard touchdown keeper. However, the celebration was cut short when Steele’s Armstrong called his number on an 81-yard TD run to put the Knights up 30-10 and closed the first half scoring with a 9-yard TD run to build a 37-10 deficit with 31 seconds left in the second quarter.
In the second half, Steele would score two more times to increase its lead 51-10 before reserves entered the game midways through the third quarter.
Port Arthur Memorial’s season ended after the best year in the school’s history, reaching the semifinals for the first time.
Terrance Singleton led the Titans in passing on 8 of 21 for 98 yards, 1-INT and rushed 24 times for 126 yards, 3TDs, RB Nathan Holmes had 14 carries for 64 yards and WR Jahjaun Seales had two receptions for 69-yards.
