Photo courtesy of Michael Slone.
Rhodes Stadium was a fitting venue after all as the Tigers and Warriors turned back the clock to 1990s era KISD football in a pivotal 17-7 victory for Katy. Watching this game instantly reminded me of Katy’s games against Taylor back in the day. It was a physical battle with points proving difficult to earn for either team.
I mentioned pre-game how I thought Jordan was greatly improved on defense this season and their unit was the single reason they weren’t run out of Rhodes last night. Katy had multiple opportunities to drive nails in after increasing the lead to 17-0 in the second quarter, but the Warrior defense wouldn’t let Katy walk away with it.
Katy did some self-inflicted things to miss chances and tried shooting all of its toes off in the process, but I think you have to tip your cap to Jordan primarily for denying the Tigers’ ability to get down the field pass wise and preventing Katy from running at will. And you’re welcome for the former Tigers who played a key role in that.
Shoulda, coulda…
The self-critical part of the brain says that’s a game Katy should have put away emphatically with how well the defense played, and that’s where I think the Tigers will try and get better from this result. Katy missed opportunities against Atascocita as well to earn a bigger lead which ultimately cost the Tigers in that game. For the macro perspective of the season, this has to be a big focus for Katy moving forward. IE, As a team, how can it do a better job of executing in the critical moments. The 10 to 17 point lead is one of the most critical game management points in football. In order to play championship level football, a team can’t miss these opportunities. The margin for error is too small. I am confident in this offense’s ability to hit the film and find solutions on the practice field.
Katy’s defense went to a level in this game that I haven’t seen since the 2020 state championship win over Cedar Hill. This was the kind of defense that’s played such a huge role in the Katy program achieving historic success over the years. I was getting a little emotional watching it. This is what elite playoff level defense looks like. The coaching staff has stuck by these guys and they’re rounding into fine form after the points allowed early on, even though Dickinson’s points were inflated by special teams miscues. Defense is simply crucial for playoff success.
Going forward.
This Tiger team has a great looking foundation taking shape as we’ve now moved into the most critical developmental part of the season. Once the playoffs start, it is go time. These next few weeks to a month are Katy’s time to finish polishing up against a good set of opponents down the stretch run of district. Jordan was the first domino, and there’s a short turnaround for Paetow next week. Paetow has a very good defense themselves and will provide similar challenges to what we just saw from Jordan with the physical match-ups.
Style points are fun, but I like Tiger WINS most of all. Next.
