Photo credit: Ramiro Rams Reyna Jr.
Fast Start in Dickinson
After beating Atascocita in game 1 at home, the Tigers went on the first road trip of the season across town to Sam Vitanza Stadium in Dickinson. The Gators had the home crowd and special uniforms ready to go for Katy.
The Gators returned three-year starting quarterback Lorenzo Aguirre and run the kind of offense that has caused Katy problems in recent years. They wasted no time and took a deep shot on the first play of the game looking for a post, which Katy defended. Aguirre made a couple of accurate first down throws and then found his TE #15 on a seam down the middle. They finished a long opening drive with a TD run to draw first blood at 7-0.
Katy responded well with a good kick return by Alvaughn Rogers (#13) who caught the kick as an upback and returned into Gators territory. Katy scored on an explosive TD run by Tony Manuel on a very nice counter design where Fayo George and the Hawgs hit key blocks to spring Manuel into paydirt and tie the score at 7 almost immediately. Dickinson has a very good defensive line, so this was a huge key to the game for Katy.
David Olotu-Judah got his night off to a (literal) flying start on a beautiful high-point catch for his first INT of the night and successfully toe-tapped to be inbounds. Katy’s offense stayed in rhythm, and Rogers made a nice first down catch from Hartwell before #10 Braylon Pettaway broke wide open in the corner of the end zone on a cleanly executed half roll playaction from Hartwell to claim a 14-7 lead- one it would never relinquish.
Katy Finds the Formula
Katy’s strategy throughout the game versus the Gators was to focus on interior runs, C gap to C gap, given the Dickinson alignment on defense. They are difficult to outflank by keeping wide players in the alley and crowd the inside with bodies at the line of scrimmage. Katy then pulled the string on those interior runs via playaction to attack the outside zones of the field.
Dickinson continued to throw a lot of Katy formation and play design wise. They hit a deep ball to #0 up the sideline on a straight 9 route. Katy had two defenders with him, but he made a great adjustment to the ball. Against this type of offense with an accurate QB and athletes out wide, a defense must stay patient and focused when they make plays.
Olotu-Judah Takes Over
Olotu-Judah captured this perfectly with his second interception as the Gators were threatening the endzone by flying in over the top of the intended receiver in the back of the endzone and somehow coming down with the interception. This is one of the best defensive plays you’ll see all year.
Katy took advantage of this turnover through an explosive run from Fayo George and another Rogers first down catch. The drive was capped off by a fortunate bounce Katy’s way when George fumbled, but Mason Hartwell followed the play alertly, scooped up the ball and ran in a touchdown to give the Tigers some cushion at 21-7.
Aguirre and the Gators continued to challenge the Katy defense with tight window passes as Katy applied heavy pressure through Munachi Obeta. Junior DB Brayden Hugenberg #7, who has impressed me in the first two games, made a nice edge tackle. Olotu-Judah secured interception #3 after Dickinson again challenged the red area. This interception was forced by heavy Tiger pressure delivered to Aguirre as he attempted to pass.
Dickinson Makes a Push Before Halftime
Katy lost its rhythm on offense towards the end of the first half and ended up punting for the first time. Dickinson took advantage and narrowed the margin to 21-14 after getting a fortunate pass interference from Katy, and then hitting a fade route TD in the redzone after Katy jumped offsides.
The Tigers were lucky on the next possession after a screen attempt was tipped and hit the ground. It was close to being an easy pick 6 to tie the game potentially. Katy punted a second time before Colt Venier came up with first half interception #4 of the Katy defense, and put the Tiger offense in business in the Dickinson half of the field. Hartwell and Pettaway then linked up for a great turn-and-run effort after the catch by Pettaway to crucially extend the Katy lead to 28-14 going into halftime.
Tigers Take Control
Katy received the ball to start the second half and immediately found a rhythm before Tony Manuel broke off another explosive TD run. Katy was able to make Dickinson pay for its alignment quirks, crowding the LOS, with interior runs by springing Manuel with a few well placed blocks. The Tigers took full control at 35-14.
Dickinson tried to answer after hitting a bit play swing pass to #0, one of just a couple of times they were able to gash Katy in the game. Katy’s defense held on to force a field goal attempt, maintaining a 35-17 advantage.
MJ Benas Delivers the Finishing Blow
Katy capped off its scoring for the night on a drive led by senior RB MJ Benas. For anyone who knows this gentleman and his story, his success is as feel good as it gets. He was in line to potentially start for Katy as a sophomore before injuries disrupted both that and his junior year. No one deserves a successful season on the field more than this kid. He led off with a purposeful first down run.
Rogers then kept the chains moving with another nice play at receiver off a playaction. Hartwell had to exit the game after his helmet came off/was removed on a QB draw, one of the only times Katy really exposed him as a runner in this game. Noah Schneider subbed in and executed a nice run with MJ Benas exploding up the field for the silencer touchdown to extend Katy’s advantage to an emphatic 42-17. The Gators picked up a late consolation score, like Atascocita in game 1, to make things look a little better at 42-24.
What Stood Out From Katy’s 42-24 Win
Overall, Katy took some good punches from a quality playoff-level opponent on the road, smiled, and took their lunch money anyway. I was very pleased to see Tony Manuel and Katy’s ground game do well after being somewhat limited against a strong Atascocita defense. Chase Lewis, #99 for the Gators, has caused Katy a lot of issues in his three years as a starter, so I was very pleased with Katy’s efforts to neutralize he and the Gators’ front.
I thought Katy’s approach on offense was spot-on with the run design and play action. The opportunism on defense this year with the interceptions and ability to apply consistent pressure on the opposing quarterback is very encouraging. I am not guaranteeing anything or crowning anybody after two games, but I will say I really like what I’ve seen from this team so far. They have important characteristics I’ve seen translate well over the long term of a season for Katy teams.
