When last we saw Dickinson
The Gators are led by THSCA president John Snelson and finished the 2024 season with a 7-4 overall record, 6-1 in district. Dickinson lost to Atascocita, 50-45, in the bi-district playoff. Dickinson had an explosive offense that was only held below 30 points twice, resulting in two of their four losses (CE King- 14 points, Clear Springs- 28 points). The Gators scored 37 points (Katy) and 45 points (Atascocita) in the other two defeats. They scored over 50 points five times, including an 84 points outburst against Brazoswood.
Jeremiah Scoby (WR), Mason Peterson (TE), and Joshua Arthur (QB) are three of the most significant production losses to graduation. The quarterback loss is softened by the return of junior Lorenzo Aguirre. Aguirre rotated with Arthur last season and gained valuable experience as a sophomore. Aguirre is a talented passing quarterback and contributed to many of the issues Katy encountered in defending the Gators last season with his ability to stretch the field. The touchdown leader in this offense returns in senior running back Malachi Gamble. Gamble scored 21 touchdowns in 11 games as a junior. Kalieb Peterson and Ja’Marion Payne are the top returning targets at wide receiver. The two combined for 12 receiving touchdowns last season in an offense that spread the ball around to multiple gifted targets. Senior Braden Glover, a flex player in this offense, also returns.
Can the Gators defense rebuild?
Dickinson’s defense dropped steeply in 2024 compared to the previous few seasons. Instead of holding opponents about 16 points below their average, the Gators cut just 6 points last season, which led to so many high-scoring games. This season, they will be hoping to improve and get back to what they’ve more typically been with Coach Snelson. The Gators return two key pieces on the defensive line to help this effort in senior Adolfo Cruz (NG) and juinior Chase Lewis. Lewis started as a sophomore last year.
On the second level, senior Aydin Edison adds experience along with talented defensive backs Marzellus Hunter and Tim Ricks (both seniors). Sophomore defensive back Royce Bimage is a name to memorize now. He is the younger brother of former Dickinson two-way star Rodney Bimage (currently playing for Arizona State as a defensive back). Royce just secured an offer from Texas A&M as one of many he is racking up already.
What this challenge brings to Katy
For Katy, Dickinson has been a great non-district opponent given the talent they put on the field each season. It gives the team an early look at playoff-caliber athletic ability and serves as a useful preview for what 23-6A has been producing with the likes of North Shore, Atascocita, Summer Creek, and King in particular. They are going to challenge Katy down the field with the pass while also maintaining a serious run threat with Gamble. Katy has seen overwhelming examples the past several seasons (dating back to 2018) for what it takes to defend top tier offenses these days. The Tigers have had significant issues effectively coordinating coverage and making plays on the football against the stress these offenses impose on a defense. I am looking forward to seeing what adjustments Katy attempts on defense this season to try and address these issues.
It is equal parts talent and team. Yes, a unit needs the horses to be able to run with talented skill players one on one because you can’t double cover everyone. The physical requirements for playing in the secondary at this level are huge, and that’s why Katy’s typical approach over the years has been to put many of its best athletes for a given class in the secondary. Even further, the mental requirements to play at the back are just as important. So, you are talking about a special type of player you’re looking for ultimately to play in these positions. Katy has been spoiled for a long time to be able to efficiently replace outstanding football players with more outstanding football players ready to step in and keep the Tigers at a high level.
What is Katy doing?
I’ve seen Katy challenged lately in terms of being able to plug in players who are ready to play at the kind of level required now in class 6A. As opposed to guys naturally stepping into these positions, we’ve seen more late position changes or shuffling due to injuries at the back. Furthermore, pass defense starts up front with the rush, so I’m not going to put this all on the secondary. Katy’s traditional odd front approach with three defensive linemen and linebacker positioning behind means our pressure is created a bit differently to how many do in the more even front approach of 4 down with two rush ends). Katy relies more on its linebackers to be the free men to wreck the backfield.
Jeremiah Smith has been this guy primarily for Katy the past couple of seasons, and the adjustment opponents have made for him is to spread the field 4 and 5 wide to pull him (and our other LBs) out of the box and into coverage where he can’t have the same impact on the backfield. I am very interested to see how Katy counters this to ensure Smith’s impact is what it needs to be regardless of what the offense does. Across the board, I think Katy has pieces in place for this unit to do very well potentially and get the Tigers back to playing the kind of defense that can win Region 3 and contend for state. Dickinson is a great first test.
So what about QB?
On offense, Katy has a new coordinator and will line up a new quarterback after Coach Brixey left for the Brownwood head coaching job and Gunner Nelson graduated after two years as a starter. I’m eager to see how Katy shapes the offense this season—whether they shift to a more traditional shotgun with 3- and 4-receiver packages or stick with the pistol sets and tighter 2×1 formations they’ve used lately. There is a significant precedent in Katy’s past for integrating spread formations along with our traditional I-based approach. This worked extremely well in seasons like 2000, 2005, and 2007 most notably. Outstanding quarterback play was the common element in those seasons, and that’s a significant question for the Tigers going into this season.
So what needs to happen in 2025?
Again, Katy has seen multiple times lately that you can’t afford slow starts or long sputters in a game on offense where you need to score 35 plus points to have a chance at winning. You blink and you’re down 21 points as happened against North Shore. You have early command against Atascocita, and then a bad possession leads to a snap over the punter’s head and the game completely turns. Tactically, Katy needs a way to unpack and exploit defenses that want to devise a junk front and just swarm our under center sets with an extra man or two every play. It’s the boxing equivalent of needing to bring more than just a jab and body punches into the ring. Katy must find solutions from both a talent and strategic perspective to address this.
For special teams, kicking and covering kicks is a massive priority and area for improvement this season. Katy will miss everything about Adam Carter, but team wise it must do the best in can in all areas of special teams to eliminate any breakdowns in this area. Overall, fundamentals will determine what level the 2025 Tigers ultimately reach. Attention to detail is what takes an average team talent wise and makes them good to great potentially. They make a good team talent wise great and potentially generational.
A return to Foundations?
The inverse is also true. In my initial preview, I emphasized that Katy built its foundation of success on fundamentals and attention to detail. Back when Katy tried to punch above its weight and earn a seat at the table with the best programs in Greater Houston, coaches sold this concept easily to players. We knew we would face more talented opponents in almost every playoff game, so our edge had to come from discipline and preparation. Katy’s edge had to be in fundamentals and preparation.
Naturally, long term success probably makes this a much bigger challenge to convince players of just how important it is (because Katy just wins and look at all those trophies), but I’d like to think Katy’s more recent experiences from 2021 to present day have reinforced this point with kids coming into the pipeline now. The required level is extremely high to compete with the elite of 6A right now, and Dickinson is the first step on Katy’s journey to see if it has what it takes to be there in 2025. I look forward to getting behind this group starting Saturday and seeing how they develop at each step.
