Slow start, Big win
The Katy Tigers pulled away from Jordan late to earn a big district win by a score of 38-17. Katy took the better part of three quarters to really get the engine revved up in this one after the Warriors jumped on top early.
Jordan scored the first touchdown by driving the field on its first possession after Katy couldn’t get anything going on the first drive of the game. Jordan beat Katy over the top twice early in the game. Katy’s entire defensive approach is built to prevent that, so it simply can’t happen. The Tigers can’t give up deep shots and miss tackles on hitches and screens at the same time. A secondary will not succeed in defending modern offense playing this way.
Jordan led 10-0 late into the second quarter before Katy managed to put a drive together at the end of the first half and pull back 7 very important points when Trey Hill punched in from the 1. Jordan will look back to a 4th and 1 inside Katy’s 10 yard line and maybe regret not going for it. They kicked a field goal after changing their mind, but I’m not sure Katy was going to stop them on that series.
Photo by Reyna Photo.
Jordan Pressure Continues in 2nd Half
With the score at 10-7 going into half, Jordan received the opening kick of the third quarter and drove the field to take a 17-7 lead through a second touchdown pass to the tight end on a similar play to how they scored in the first half. Katy blew the coverage responsibility on both of these touchdowns for Jordan. Jordan designed the plays well—ones Katy had likely prepared for in practice. The defender who gave up both touchdowns was pulled, just like the one who got beat over the top twice in the first half.
Katy responded with a field goal to pull the score back to 17-10 Jordan. The game changing moment for Katy came next when Caleb Ritter sat in his zone against a tight bunch formation from Jordan and housed a pick six. Jordan’s QB made a mistake throw into traffic, and Ritter was happy to take advantage. Great play on the ball and a huge momentum play with Katy having played from behind all evening to this point.
Momentum is a Tricky Thing
With the score tied at 17, Katy defense stopped Jordan and put the ball back into the hands of the offense with its first chance to claim a lead since the first drive of the game. The Tigers scored on a pass from Franklin to Cade McCall in the end zone. McCall created separation with a smart route and caught a perfectly delivered pass. I’ve been waiting all season for this young man to make an impact, so it was great to see him step up in this game.
Next, the Katy defense forced another turnover on an interception by David Olotu-Judah. Jordan attempted a double move route with a pump from the QB, but Katy’s secondary to the play side did not bite and stayed over the top of the route. DOJ made a great catch going out of bounds, and made sure to get a foot down in bounds.
The offense took the field and Franklin found McCall on a controlled slant where the receiver’s job is to get his body between the defender and QB to present a target. McCall succeeded in positioning himself, and was able to turn away from the defender towards the sideline after making the catch and outrun the defense to the end zone. Again, welcome to the season young man. What a way to get going.
Katy’s defense generated another stop, and scored its final touchdown of the evening through Trey Hill to set the final margin at 38-17.
So What do we Take from This?
Overall, this game had some similarities to the Cinco Ranch game in the slow start and strong finish aspect. The main difference of course was that Jordan was much better against the run than Cinco, so it took longer for the Tigers to get into the game.
Katy seemed to use its “big game” plan on offense in terms of keeping things tighter and more in the middle of the ring to use a boxing analogy. There was not as much variety formation wise, or in the play design. The Tigers were playing more straight ahead. Early in the game, former Tiger Jimmy P Suliafu (#8) was dominant and blowing up the offense. As the game went on, his impact went away. Katy’s approach puts the game squarely on the offensive line to dominate and relies heavily on the defense to prevent big plays and avoid early holes.
Katy has seen many times recently how damaging that is in the playoffs. Our game plan just flat out does not work when the defense is getting beat for big plays and the offense wants to play conservatively and build its way into a game. I’m not a fan of it personally, but it is what it is and by design. You don’t get 2 or 3 quarters to find yourself in the playoffs.
Here’s what we need moving forward
A fast and attack-minded team will put you away, so this is the main piece of learning Katy should take from this game and try to apply moving forward. In the non-district games against Dickinson and Atascocita, Katy saw a preview of what things look like against playoff caliber competition. I think that has to be in the back of your mind, or in the front of it, as you prepare and move through the later stages of the regular season now.
Katy has to clean up the confusion in the secondary that resulted in the two playaction TDs for Jordan. It also can’t allow people to beat us over the top. Again, the entire point of what Katy does on defense is so you don’t get beat over the top. Keep everything in front, make plays on the ball, and tackle. Obviously, Katy has struggled with all of those things as a program lately but credit tonight where it is due when the secondary responded by making big plays via Ritter and DOJ. In today’s game, that’s what you have to get from the guys in the back. You are not going to beat strong playoff opponents otherwise.
Are we ready for the post-season?
The Tigers are going to see at least one more serious challenge in district in my opinion, and the athletic match-ups will help this Tiger team try and enter the playoffs playing well and hopefully with fundamental mistakes eliminated. I want to see the offense build on the momentum established through McCall’s entrance into the offense tonight by adding an essential element to this offense moving forward.
I am very pleased with the response of the team in this game after a bad start that could have snowballed. This team has a calm demeanor and they are fighting for each other. From the team perspective, this shows me we have a group that is together and with fundamental corrections might be able to surprise some folks in about a month.
