Another wild week is in the books. The young season has been filled with high-octane offense, dominant defense and some spectacular individual effort. There have been surprise players and unexpected upsets. Did I mention that this is only Week Four?
District play is upon us. Here are the things to watch in week four of Texas high school football.
1. How does Katy respond?
The Katy Tigers are falling quickly after a rough start to the 2016 campaign. The Tigers were victim to a thrashing from The Woodlands last week as they lost their second game of the season 26-3. Now the Tigers and head coach Gary Joseph will look to get things back on track. This isn’t the first Katy team to start a season 1-2, the Tigers had the same record in 2008 before they rattled off seven straight wins and eventually won the 5A state title. The Tigers open district play against Cinco Ranch this week. The Cougars are fresh off a 51-0 win last week so it should be interesting.
2. Kennedy Brooks being a monster.
The Mansfield running back is absolutely tearing it up. In the first three games of the season, the four-star recruit has rushed for an astounding 681-yards and nine touchdowns. Perhaps the most eye-opening stat is his nine yards per carry. Brooks almost single handedly carried his team to a victory against Cedar Hill in week two. The Tigers’ and Brooks’ district opener is this week against Paschal—expect Brooks to be running things.
3. Keep an eye out for Denton Ryan and Lone Star, no matter who wins.
Both Frisco Lone Star and Denton Ryan are serious 5A contenders. The shame is that these teams only meet once. Ryan is ranked No. 3 and Lone Star is ranked No. 6 in TexasHSFootball.com rankings. Both teams are littered with talent. Dual-threat quarterback Jason Shelly is the leader for Lone Star, a three-star recruit and Utah commit. Trying to stop Shelly will be Ryan defensive end Javaris Steward. Steward is a four-star recruit and UTSA commit.
4. Can Keller Timber Creek’s Cade Schrader keep up this pace?
The Falcons senior quarterback has 995 passing yards and week four hasn’t even started. To go along with the yards, Schrader has thrown for eight touchdowns and zero interceptions. Meanwhile, Schrader is completing an impressive 73 percent of his passes. The Falcons take on the 5A Denton Broncos on Thursday night at the Keller ISD athletic complex.
5. Two 3-0 teams collide in our Game of the Week.
The Rowlett Eagles and Keller Fossil Ridge Panthers put 3-0 records on the line in an intriguing 6A matchup. Both teams are arguably the class of their respective districts and are looking to keep it going. Max Akin leads the Panthers offensively. The senior has completed 72-percent of his passes while throwing for 780-yards and six touchdowns. The Eagles are lead by Preston Weeks, who has only completed 41-percent of his passes, but does a lot of work on the ground. He’s gained 265 yards and a couple of rushing touchdowns. The game is scheduled for Friday night at Southlake’s Dragon Stadium (due to Keller Timber Creek and Keller using it on Thursday and Friday).
