Not the rebound we were looking for
The Eagles prevailed by a score of 52-33 over Katy at Turner Stadium in Humble. It was Atascocita’s third straight victory over the Tigers. They are the first program to beat Katy three times consecutively since Klein did it over 30 years ago. The Tigers move into district play at 0-2 for the first time since 2008.
I’ve been told I should TLDR my posts for those who don’t want to enjoy a cup of coffee with my posts, so here we go in 250 characters or less: Two fake punt conversions and two lost fumbles resulted in 28 of Atascocita’s 52 points.
Atascocita received the opening kick and generated a big return into Katy territory to set up the first points of the game and a quick 7-0 lead for the Eagles. Missed tackles appeared early in the game continued from what we saw against Dickinson. The skill position talent mismatch was made immediately apparent, and it’s been as big of an issue as I’ve ever seen for a Katy defense as things stand early on this season.
It started ok..ish
Katy showed improved execution blocking and running wise initially, but had to settle for a field goal after not being able to punch the ball in from the one yard line. The field goal put the first points on the board for Katy, down 7-3 so far. Katy played good defense on the next series, but Atascocita converted their first fake punt with Mack running for a first down. Next, the Eagles executed a run/pass TD by handing the ball off to Mack who then threw a TD pass. Katy had a defender in the area of the catch, but he was fooled by the run action and not aware of the pass.
Katy answered with a nice touchdown drive that was capped off by Fayo George scoring his second touchdown of the season, narrowing the score to 14-10 Atascocita. George has been a bright spot for Katy. The difference between Atascocita and Dickinson scheme wise was stark. The Eagles played a base defense against Katy whereas Dickinson dedicated everything to run stuffing. On Atascocita’s next possession, Katy again held them to fourth down and again Atascocita converted a fake punt on the running talent of Mack combined with missed tackles from the Tigers. Mack found his receiver on a pump and go double move to extend the lead to 21-10 for the Eagles after the conversion.
Trading Field Goals
On Katy’s next drive, the Tigers converted a 4th and 3 with Franklin using his legs to convert. As Katy was driving, however, it was called for a chop block. As a result of the penalty, Katy had to settle for a 40 yard field goal attempt, which it converted to narrow the deficit to 21-13. On Atascocita’s next possession, the impressive running back CJ Toney ran through Katy tackle attempts to set the Eagles up in Katy territory. Ultimately, the Katy defense held on to force a field goal as time ran out in the first half. Atascocita led 24-13 going into halftime.
The Tigers received to open the third quarter but fumbled the ball back to the Eagles after two big chunk gains by Hill into Eagle territory. Atascocita scored through CJ Toney as a response to the turnover, 31-13 Eagles. On Katy’s next possession, it fumbled again as CJ Watts was picking up yardage. Once again, Atascocita accepted Katy’s generosity and scored on a TD pass from Mack to deliver the hammer blow at 38-13. This was the back breaking sequence of events in the game for Katy. After competing relatively well in the first half, these turnovers ended Katy’s ability to keep the game interesting.
Next Katy possession, the Tigers found chunk gains in the ground game as they did for much of the night. This time, Hill capped off the drive with Katy’s most explosive play of the season so far on a 37-yard run. Katy trailed 38-20. Atacocita scoed on its next possession when Mack converted his 5th touchdown pass to extend the lead to 45-20. Katy scored again on its next possession with chunk gains on the ground and another touchdown for Hill, 45-27.
Mack too much to overcome
Cardae Mack scored on a 77-yard touchdown run next to put the Eagles over 50 points. It was a well executed keeper aound the edge by Mack. Katy had a defender in the gap he ran through, but the player was not able to get a hand on him or make an attempt at his legs. Katy put Mason Hartwell in at quarterback on its last dirve, and he led Katy down the field on a well executed drive to finish the Tigers’ and game’s scoring for the evening at 52-33. Manual capped this drive off for Katy with a TD run.
Good athletes make you pay and do not require charity from turnovers. The two fake punts and lost fumbles directly resulted in 28 of the 52 points for Atascocita. Katy also kicked two field goals when touchdowns were there to take. In total, these events represented a 36-point negative swing against Katy in the game that a handful of plays determined (!!!). Due to a combination of factors, Katy learned in these first two games it is not ready to face playoff caliber athletes as we sit here in early September.
So what do we take from this?
The good news is that the playoffs don’t start for two months and the season doesn’t end after two non-district games. As mentioned in my pre-game post, the big key for Katy after an 0-2 start is keeping itself in the game mentally and staying committed to each other as teammates, their coaches, and to the process of improving 1% each day. When things go bad, you can make excuses and point fingers. That is easy to do and you see it often. In my opinion, captains are the ones who set the tone in the locker room to ensure things go in a positive direction in tough moments.
Sometimes people say “burn the tape” after bad losses. I say lean into the tape and study everything from these first two games in detail because the key to turning things around is found there.
