The two 6A defending state champions will face off Friday at noon at NRG Stadium in Houston. North Shore, last year’s division I winner and Katy, the division II winner will play each other for the first time since 2009. Katy comes in at 10-2 with their two losses being to Austin Westlake and The Woodlands. North Shore comes in at 11-1 with their sole loss being to undefeated Manvel.
Katy got off to a shaky state to the season, but has been rolling as of late winning both playoff games by an average of 21 points. North Shore was already going to be a tough matchup, but with Katy’s main weapon on offense Deondrick Glass going out the game just got tougher. Glass needed help getting off the field last week against Cy Ranch with what looked to be a right knee injury and did not return. It was confirmed by Katy coach Gary Joseph that Glass would miss the game. Quarterback Rocky Emery, wideout JC Angulo, and backup running back Josh Oglesby will have to fill the void. The trio stepped up last week combining for four touchdowns.
North Shore is hot and looks to be rolling on both sides of the ball. The Mustangs have three shutouts in their last five games, and have scored an average of 50 points. North Shore disposed of Dickinson 17-7 last week. The Mustangs defense was key to their win over the Gators, holding them to 24 yards on 24 carries and 140 yards total for the game.
Katy is known for their running game, and North Shore is known to stop the run game, so this will be a tale of the immovable object vs. the unstoppable force. That unstoppable force may have been stopped before the game even gets started with the absence of Deondrick Glass. Either way this should be a great game. The last time these teams played it finished at 9-7 with a Katy win on a safety at the end of the game from a snap over the punter’s head. These two teams have always been evenly matched and this year is no different.
