Katy Sets the Tone Early
The Katy Tigers rolled out the red carpet for Homecoming 2026 and then proceeded to roll the Warriors in a 56-10 whipping. The final margin was kind to Jordan given Katy led 35-3 at half and 56-3 after the third quarter.
Katy made an emphatic start to the game by breaking its first play on offense for a 75 yard touchdown by Tony Manuel III on a dive up the gut from a pistol twins formation. He was untouched on this opening scamper and it was the first of many exploitations of Jordan’s heavy bias to Katy’s strong side all night. Jordan was making an obvious declaration to that side from play 1, and it made Katy’s numbers decisions and blocking execution easily fall into place.
Jordan fumbled the kickoff back to Katy on the next play. Katy took over on offense and again broke into space on a weak side crack toss with CJ Watts for a 20 or so yard TD. This play was called back for a penalty on the Tigers. Watts then took the next play untouched for an explosive TD from over 30 yards out. Before most butts hit the seats, Katy was in control with a 14-0 lead.
Jordan Fights Back, Katy Answers
The Warriors tried to recover through their only explosive run of the night into Katy’s red area before the Tiger defense bowed up and kept Jordan off the scoreboard after they airmailed a snap.
Katy had a bit of fortune when Hartwell was hit and fumbled, but the Tigers recovered. Katy drove into Jordan territory before having a field goal wiped for a penalty. The next kick attempt was no good.
Jordan again tried to get something going and got into Katy’s red area again. However, the QB Eugate threw into double coverage and Ritter made the interception in the end zone.
Katy immediately went back to work with CJ and Tony popping big runs. Hartwell and Rogers turned a busted pass play into a completion before Manuel punched in from close to extend the Tiger lead to 21-0.
Katy Pulls Away Before the Break
The Tigers immediately added to the advantage by a scoop and score by Colt Venier after Jordan completed a short pass and fumbled on the perimeter, now leading 28-0. The lead moved to 35-0 after a nice drive by the Katy offense ended in a sneak TD by Hartwell. Hartwell and Scotty Zuehlke, welcome back to #44, linked up on a nicely executed pass to the flat. It is a big addition for this offense to have Zuehlke back to pair with Fayo. Manuel ran well again before the sneak TD moved the lead to 35-0.
Jordan took advantage of a long kick return to set up a field goal just before we got to half. Katy led 35-3 going into the locker room.
Second Half Continues the Rout
Out of halftime, the game picked up right where it left off. Jordan received to start, but fumbled Katy’s pooch kick. The Tigers took over deep in Jordan territory and punched it in on a great effort run by Tony, 42-3.
On Katy’s next drive, Noah Schneider entered at QB and Katy scored through an explosive play on counter to CJ Watts. Yet again, Katy exploited Jordan’s obvious defensive alignment bias to pop this play out to the weak side. Katy led 49-3 quickly into the third to fully drive in the nail.
For extra emphasis, Heaney completed Katy’s scoring on the night by popping a fullback run for an explosive touchdown, say it with me, to the weak side. It was a very simple numbers game for Katy all night on offense with the run calls.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was a total physical and tactical mismatch in Katy’s favor. My only gripes are the passing game not being particularly sharp the few times it was called upon, the fact it was only used a few times despite how easy running the ball was (I would like to see Katy gain a high degree of sharpness/reliability by playoffs), and the kicking game snafus with the field goal attempt and long kick return allowed.
I try and stay professional, but I will say it gives me pleasure to see Katy dominate opponents who love to talk starting in junior high, with some even defecting across attendance zones, and continue talking through high school only to find out routinely and emphatically that none of it matters. Keep talking and negative recruiting. It’s working out great. Katy will continue pulling up in its “boring” pick-up truck offense and defense, and show having an actual program still matters more than any of that nonsense.
