PORT NECHES, Texas — New year, same goals.
The Port Neches-Groves Indians created history in 2023 after winning their first State Championship in football since 1975.
Jeff Joseph returns for his third season with PNG as he'll be looking to do yet again what he's been able to do in his first two seasons as the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach.
Which of course is reaching the State Championship game at AT&T Stadium the two seasons he has been with the program.
Several players from the championship caliber team graduated.
Although, PNG does brings back the quarterback that kept the dream alive in 2023, Connor Bailey.
Typically after the amount of success a team like the Indians have seen, a target begins to form on the backs of the squad.
However, for Joseph, it's business as usual.
"It's the process that makes you successful, it's the work that you put in Monday through Thursday that shows up on Friday nights," Joseph said about the duties of being a championship team.
Majority of the squad that PNG will see on the field in 2024 sat on the sideline and rode the buses during the magical playoff run of '23.
Coach Joseph likes the exposure of a playoff atmosphere for his young guys, but for Joseph, the experience went beyond just being a part of the games themselves.
"I think the bigger part for us is six weeks of playoffs means for those guys [underclassmen] about 20 extra practices that they got in the fall. it's just extra reps of playing football against a quality opponent [the 2023 PNG team]. Hopefully it's made them better and developed us as a team," Joseph said about the players he's inheriting in '24.
The Indians begin their march to another appearance at AT&T Stadium week one against the Klein Oak Panthers on August 30.