Barbers Hill falls to PAM 48-35
Barbers Hill quarterback Brady Barrier fires off a pass against the Port Arthur Memorial Titans on Saturday in playoff action. Photo by Chris Cody
The Barbers Hill Eagles season comes to an end as they fall in the Class 5A Division I Playoffs to Port Arthur Memorial, 48-35. Photo by Chris Cody
BEAUMONT– For a brief moment in the fourth quarter, the Barbers Hill Eagles took the lead and looked like they might pull the upset on a Brady Barrier to Cole Ackerman 50-yard touchdown with 11:33 left in the game.
Port Arthur Memorial responded by running off three straight touchdowns in a span of four minutes, and that would be enough for a 48-35 win on Saturday night in a Class 5A Region III Championship Game at Beaumont ISD's Memorial Stadium.
Trailing 21-7 at the half, the Eagles came out and went 75 yards on 10 plays with Brady Barrier scoring from the 1-yard line, and after a Carson Hahn run for the two-point conversion, it was Barbers Hill back to within 21-15.
The Titans answered with an Alex Eugene 4-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-15 with 5:10 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles then put together their second straight 75-yard drive that resulted in a Miles Spurlock 2-yard score, and Barbers Hill was down 28-22 with 1:08 remaining in the third quarter.
The Eagles defense then forced a quick three-and-out to take over at their own 40-yard line. A couple of plays later, it was Barrier hooking up with Ackerman on the score and Barbers Hill led 29-28.
The Titans quickly went 72 yards with Amante Martin scoring from 6 yards out to retake the lead at 34-29 with 9:18 left in the fourth quarter.
On the Eagles' next drive, Memorial came up with a massive sack on first down that set Barbers Hill up with a 2nd-and-24. After two incompletions, the Eagles were forced to punt, and the Titans took over at midfield.
Three plays later, it was Martin connecting with Keavon Roberts on a 29-yard score and the advantage was up to 41-29.
Memorial then got a Darrod Jacobs 32-yard interception return down to the Barbers Hill 2-yard line. A couple of plays later, Eugene scored from a yard out, and the lead had ballooned to 48-29 with 5:09 remaining.
The Eagles cut the deficit to 48-35 just 43 seconds later with Barrier finding Anthony Bonnet on a 73-yard score.
The Titans would recover the following onside kick and run out the remaining 4:23 on the clock to get the win.
Memorial wasted little time on jumping out to a lead as Alex Eugene scored from 24 yards out to give the Titans a 7-0 lead with 10:56 left in the first quarter. The big play of the drive was a 64-yard pass play from Martin to Desmond Washington.
The Titans got a big play on the special teams to set up their second score as Roberts returned a punt 55 yards to the Eagles 7-yard line. Martin scored from the 1-yard line on fourth-and-goal for a 14-0 advantage.
Barbers Hill then responded with a 40-yard drive that resulted in a Barrier 3-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit in half at 14-7 with 2:21 remaining in the opening quarter.
Early in the second quarter, Martin found Roberts on a 73-yard score and Memorial led 21-7 at the half.
Barrier wrapped up his high school career with 371 yards passing on 26 of 35 attempts to go along with two touchdowns. The senior also added two scores on the ground.
Bonnet led the receiving core with eight catches for 192 yards. Ackerman finished with five catches for 112 yards and Tripp Davis chipped in with seven receptions for 55 yards.
The Titans will face Smithson Valley on Friday night in Katy in a state semifinal game. The Eagles finished the season 10-4.