Eagles dominate eighth Battle Line on 59
PORTER — New Caney left no doubt about the eighth edition of the Battle Line on 59.
It scored early and let the defense go to work all night as the Eagles took down rival Porter 28-0 to remain unbeaten all-time in the rivalry in front of a packed house at Texan Drive Stadium on Friday.
New Caney coach Brady Pennington admitted he’s been battling anxiety and described this one as a huge win for the program.
“I feel a little stressed,” Pennington said. “This ballgame is a big ballgame for both communities. I know how important it is for us to play well in front of a big crowd. For us to come and play the way we did (is great).”
The Eagles scored twice in the first quarter, got a pick-six in the second and put a ton of pressure on Porter’s offense all night. The Eagles had six sacks and held Porter to 84 yards of offense, including minus-36 on the ground.
“Our defensive coordinator (Joshua Potter) and our defensive coaches really put together a great game plan,” Pennington said. “These guys have been averaging 28-30 points per game. They’ve been running the ball at people and last week we had the ball ran on us.”
The loss snaps a fivegame winning streak for the Spartans (6-3, 5-2), and the win sets up a showdown for a piece of the District 21-5A title next Friday at Crosby with New Caney (6-2, 6-1) coming to town. Porter hosts Barbers Hill in a battle of third and fourth place in district.
New Caney senior quarterback Jordan Cooper was a part of both scoring plays for New Caney in the first quarter. Cooper capped a 10-play, 85-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
After a Porter punt, Cooper hooked up with sophomore Dwight McGlothern, who hauled in a 12-yard pass, and his momentum carried him all the way to the concrete wall for a 14-0 lead with 1:35 left in the first quarter.
Cooper also scored the fourth touchdown of the game. After he turned to hand off on play-action and the runner wasn’t there, Cooper turned it upfield for 27 yards and a score with 10:38 left in the game.
Cooper felt afterward the offense could have done more with how well the defense took the pressure off of it.
“Our defense is amazing,” Cooper said. “I love our defense and they played a great game. This game is for them.”
New Caney junior Jaylen Neal added to the lead early in the second quarter with a 55-yard interception return. Neal grabbed a tipped ball and sprinted to the end zone.
New Caney freshman CJ Sanders was terrific on both sides of the ball as he also had an interception in the fourth quarter.
For the Spartans, Zane Russell threw for 120 yards with Tayler Baker making four catches for 44 yards and Sevonne Rhea making three receptions for 42.
“We wanted to play a little better and we didn’t,” Porter coach Jim Holley said. “Give coach Pennington and his staff at New Caney a lot of credit. They did a great job tonight. We have to do a better job, starting with us as coaches.”
To keep a perfect record in the Battle Line on 59 was important to New Caney.
“It’s a great feeling,” Cooper said. “For us seniors, it’s our last Battle Line game.”