Katy football is here, and it’s time to kick off the 2024 season with the Dickinson Gators. I look forward to seeing this group of Tigers run out of the gate and see where they stand early this season. Dickinson is ranked just inside the state top 25 in every pre-season rankings set I’ve seen, and the Katy staff did good work getting them on the schedule to replace Clear Springs. Dickinson usually has the kind of playoff-level athleticism to challenge most opponents, and it’s important to see this early from a Katy perspective in my opinion. This point is further emphasized given the second game against Atascocita and then jumping straight into district play.
A team needs to understand how these types of match-ups translate on the field as quickly as possible, so they can work with the coaches to make any adjustments throughout the regular season in order to put themselves in the strongest position possible come playoff time. I love that Katy is playing two playoff teams to start. Katy needs the immediate challenge especially with an abbreviated non-district. You don’t want the playoffs to be the first time you are getting a look at team speed in particular.
While game one is just the starting point and the season will evolve greatly from August to November and December, generally your physical talent is what it is as a team. This is not going to change much at all between Week 1 and the state championship game. What changes is the reps and experience players gain throughout the season, and the tactical expansion (hopefully) that occurs from mastering the basics and being humble and malleable enough to learn from film.
The Chasing Pack
I’ve been very vocal about this on other platforms and on the Tradition Never Graduates podcast. The challenge facing the chasing pack at the 6A level in Texas right now is tremendous given what the programs at the top have done these past five to six years. Katy is in the chasing pack looking up at the likes of North Shore, DeSoto, Duncanville and Westlake. The athletic standard being set is ridiculously high and it’s not realistic for anyone to try and outdo the factory programs there.
In my opinion, the greatest equalizers in the game are elite level defense, special teams and fundamentally sound (near perfect) execution. These areas are where Katy has traditionally found an advantage as a program and must be the case still for any Katy team with dreams of contending for the region and state in either division. Obviously, no team can afford to be at a disadvantage in physical talent (size and/or speed) and have big weakneses on the mental side or fundamentally. That’s just asking for trouble at some point and probably sooner rather than later. Details matter.
Where does Katy stand?
Katy is in a much better position, on paper, going into this season than what it was in 2023. There is proven experience and ability at the quarterback position with Gunner Nelson and in the backfield with Tremayne Hill. Sophomore MJ Benas could add a fun dynamic to the backfield if we can work in touches for him alongside Hill. I love tandems in the Katy offense to keep one guy from having to take a season’s worth of hits and fresh legs running at the defense, particularly when the styles compliment one another as Katy fans will see in these two. There is also London Pilbeam who has patienly waited his turn on varsity.
Also, returning experience up front is very important as always. Players like Patrick McMath and Byron Nelson bring additional experience and leadership. Out wide, the Tigers line up with two guys who gained some hard won experience last year in Izzy Olotu-Judah and Cade McCall. Both players stepped forward quite impressively a year ago, and I look forward to seeing their projection with a year under their belts. At tight end, Katy returns Jon Stephens to add further experience. Overall, I feel like Katy has good pieces to build around to start and establish a foundation that could look pretty darn good by the playoffs.
And their defense?
Defensively, I look forward to seeing the Dawgs in action with Adam Carter, Raymond Jackson and Isaac Coughran among those in the rotation. It looks like Katy will go almost an entire 5 or 6 deep in the rotation this season. Jeremiah Smith blew us all away last year by having a team MVP season as a sophomore. Without overhyping it, Katy folks should be very happy this kid is on our side and I’m excited to see what Smith does as a junior with a year of varsity experience. Katy will line up some new faces with Smith on the second level and we’ll be quickly learning the new names as the season gets underway.
The linebacker positions are very interesting now for Katy with the way opponents are spreading us out with 4 and 5 receivers. This requires linebackers to have a more rangy profile in that they can function in coverage, outside the tackles and generally more in isolation than what we’d have seen previously. Katy did some experimenting last year with a broken stack 3-3 alignment, and I’ll be curious to see if Katy sticks with its traditional 3-2 box setup or if we are asking the Will middle backer to be a more flexible and mobile position now. Stay tuned and pay attention to what Katy does alignment wise versus the Gators.
The secondary
In the secondary, I’m looking forward to seeing these guys in live action as it looks like we have some interesting talent in the pipeline. Jacob Hilton, who will play safety this year, is the name fans will remember from last year. He will be flanked by Josh Garcia, who also gained varsity experience last year, in addition to players like Isaiah McMillan, Aquaylis Jordan and Mason Dismuke. In today’s game, it is essential to have a secondary that is not only athletic but also smart. That is a tough combination to merge, but Katy’s managed to find players in this mold more times than not over the years and it is crucial for the kind of defense we need to play in order to play with the best teams in the state right now.
I am fired up to see this season kicked off in Dickinson and see where the 2024 story begins. Travel safely everyone. Go Katy!
