Port Neches-Groves (8-1, 5-1) at Dayton (4-5, 2-4)
The details: 7 p.m. Friday, Bronco Stadium
History: The Broncos and Indians meet for the seventh consecutive season. PNG has won all six of those meetings, including 41-14 last year during its march to the state championship. Dayton last beat the Indians in 2014.
Key player for PNG: Senior defensive lineman Jonathan Hernadez has been a large part of the Indians success over the past couple seasons. Hernandez is a reigning District Defensive MVP and is a factor every play for the Indians.
Key player for Dayton: Dayton junior Merkle Judge had an interception and registered a sack in last week’s win over West Fork. Judge led with 17 total tackles, with two coming for a loss.
Stat attack: In the four Dayton wins this season, the defensive unit has shown through. The Broncos are allowing just 12 points per game, including six allowed to Splendora two weeks ago and eight Thursday night against the Gators. Dayton hadn’t had back-to-back games of 10-or-less points allowed since 2022.
Notable: The Indians, ranked No. 9 in the state poll, come into the final week of the regular season in second place in District 8-5A Division II … A PNG win and a Nederland loss at Montgomery would result in a shared district title … Dayton enters the week in sixth place, but losses to every team above them in the district standings is costly in terms of any tiebreakers for the final playoff spot … Dayton started its fifth different quarterback last week as Brock Easton took over … Jaleel Kendrick totaled three touchdowns against West Fork, two of which were 50-plus yard runs … Dayton senior linebacker Andrew Soliz is up to 15 sacks on the season, which is third in Texas according to MaxPreps.
