After key district wins over Jordan and Paetow in back-to-back weeks, Katy meets a surging Tompkins team that’s won four games in a row after a 1-3 start. They won the first game of the season over Cy Ranch by one point (21-20), so that’s how close they were to 0–4.
That was then
However, as district play has progressed, the Falcons have turned their season around in wins over Mayde Creek, Morton Ranch, Cinco Ranch, and Seven Lakes. The Cinco win was most key in terms of getting them into playoff position, and that game also solidified Katy’s bracket position in Division 1.
Tompkins has scored 48, 42, 50 and 31 points during their winning streak and it will be interesting to see how the Katy defense matches up against their style of pistol/shotgun read run game.
The Falcons got the system working beautifully with Wyatt Young and Caleb Blocker last season, and have had to rebuild as this season has progressed with new players. They’ve improved significantly with scoring output throughout district.
Tompkins had emerged as Katy’s primary adversary in district prior to Jordan opening, and it will be interesting to see how the Falcons program fares in the future with Jordan firmly on the scene. The windows of opportunity in this district have been very small ever since Cinco started the modern growth binge, and we’ve been building relief campuses for ~5-year-old schools (truly insane).
The gameplan for Katy
For Katy, I look towards the defense continuing to play consistently well and show the ability to make opponents one dimensional by stuffing the run and forcing the opposing offense into lower percentage downfield shots to try and get anything going. The Tigers managed to take Jordan and Paetow completely off of their normal schedule, and I look for more of the same here.
On offense, I thought Katy made some improvement against Paetow but still has another level or two it needs to reach by playoff time. Katy’s had to use more running backs this regular season than I can remember ever seeing us have to use in a single season. Health has not been kind to Katy this season in the backfield, so hopefully this is something the Tigers can steady as we head into prime time.
Tactically, this is the point in the season where Katy needs to start showing fundamental mastery of the core offense and dip into the “Swiss Army Knife” aspects of the system that will better enable the Tigers to compete against a North Shore type opponent in the playoffs. You can’t step into the ring with one punch in a prize fight and expect to emerge with a raised glove. Efficient offense is having the ability to identify and execute the best solutions in the right moments to most effectively counter and exploit the opponent.
I am very convinced this is the next level the 2024 Tigers need to find in order to put themselves in the best position possible for the playoffs. Tompkins will be another good opponent for Katy to test itself against and gain valuable game reps as November and the state playoffs beckon.
