History is on the Line
The Tigers travel to Humble this Friday night as they look to halt Atascocita. Atascocita won its opening game against Lamar last week, 48-28. Cardae Mack, the star senior QB for the Eagles, accounted for 6 touchdowns in the opening win. Atascocita has beaten Katy two years in a row for the first time in program history these last two seasons, and Mack has played a huge role in both games. Mack and the Eagles have a chance to do something against Katy that hasn’t been done since early to mid 90s when Klein beat Katy three times in a row.
Not even North Shore with Dematrius Davis managed to beat Katy three times in a row, though he did record three wins over Katy. Katy’s regular season win over North Shore in 2019 prevented North Shore and Davis from winning four games in a row against the Tigers. Vince Young, who Katy played three times, had a 1-2 record versus the Tigers. Jalen Milroe, who quarterbacked Tompkins for three seasons against Katy, had a 1-2 record versus the Tigers. Katy went 2-3 against Dematrius Davis.
Mack is the Headliner
Mack is lined up at quarterback again this season. He was a running back in his first match-up against Katy two years ago. He has the best balance I have ever seen in a ball carrier along with Cedric Benson (Midland Lee) and Sam McGuffie (Cy Fair). Both of those guys were gymnasts, so I might check on Mack’s tumbling background. There was an indication this summer from Coach Stump that Mack would be a running back again this season, but that was quickly put to bed after their scrimmage.
I never took that seriously. Coach Stump is going to have to sell his Nebraska oceanfront property somewhere else. Isaiah Rasheed is a talented junior for Atascocita tipped to be one of their next big talents, but Mack has taken his position at QB each of the last two years. Rasheed played rarely last year but is starting in a slot receiver role this season while Mack continues to get his hands on the ball every play.
Mack is flanked in the backfield by senior CJ Toney. Toney was a receiver last year and is playing in the backfield now. I thought he was very impressive against Lamar as a runner. He runs for speed and power to form a great tandem compliment to Mack. The Eagles have a lot of new faces on both sides of the ball. #21 Trenton Blaylock (DB) and #91 Jason Johnson are two players with returning experience from last season. Atacocita had a spotty opener against Lamar on defense in game 1. They were hit for some big plays, but managed to make stops in key moments to allow their offense to pile on the winning margin.
A Rough Way to Rebound
After Katy’s tough opening result against Dickinson, I think it is fair to say this isn’t ideal timing for this sort of match-up, but it is a chance to learn important information about the team in the big picture context of the season. It should also help further with potential decisions around strategy, position switches, or player promotions from sub-varsity as Katy builds the team that’ll go into the district schedule. This match-up against Atascocita typically has been higher scoring for both teams.
On offense, the Dickinson game was one of the tougher starts I have seen for a Katy offense so it goes without saying the Tigers will need to be much improved this week against an explosive opponent. The injury problems Katy’s encountered out of the gate in the secondary, combined with already needing to find some answers there with new starters, has compounded a big challenge for the team to try and navigate this early and especially now staring at this kind of opponent.
The biggest challenge for Katy defensively will be filling the gaps across the entire width of the field against the speed and run threat the Eagles present and finding a way to tackle. When it comes to this kind of athlete, you must hit them and bring them down before they really start moving their legs. Once they’re in the second level, it’s often a losing prospect for the defense. On offense, the challenge this week is establishing some kind of identity beyond just hoping something pops in the running game before landing in 3rd and long situations.
Are the Tigers Up to the Challenge?
Katy’s stock has fallen faster in the human polls this week than Cracker Barrel and Bud Light combined based on the first result. The big challenge for Katy is going to be mentally staying in it, being committed to each other and their team goals, and doing everything they can to try and fix what is in their control and block out everything that isn’t. The state playoffs are in November, so Katy doesn’t have to try and be playoffs ready this week.
That isn’t realistic. Katy can do its best to start building in that direction, however, and that involves all the unglamorous work behind the scenes. Responding to adversity is everything in football. As a team, you can feel sorry for yourselves (the opponent won’t) or you can go to work and figure out who the soliders are in the team who will stand shoulder to shoulder in the tough moments and battle.
