HOUSTON — The Katy High School led all game and didn’t look back as they shut down the Humble Atascocita 44-0 Friday night at NRG Stadium.
Katy’s Tigers overcame a slow first quarter start as the Eagles fell into an early hole that they could not recover from.
Katy’s defense imposed its will early as cornerback KeSean Rowe intercepted his second pass in as many weeks. Although he wasn’t able to score like last week, he set up his offense with a short field and the Tigers struck first with a 27-yard field goal by Texas A&M commit Seth Small.
“It stems from the defensive line, ” said Rowe, who finished with an interception and forced fumble “They apply pressure and force bad throws, and we do our job.”
Minutes later, Katy came up with another interception, this one returned 28 yards to the Atascocita 20-yard line. The Tigers tacked on a touchdown with a three-yard pass to Michael Matus, the Arizona State defensive end commit, who plays tight end in goal-line packages.
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Both sides played well defensively early, as Atascocita was held to just one first down in the first 12 minutes and the Tigers only managed to score a touchdown once on their three offensive drives, two of which started inside the 25-yard line.
Katy opened up the game in the second quarter, starting with their first drive at their own 26. Quarterback Austin Marshall finally connected on a deep pass, a 57-yard touchdown. Small added three points to the lead, on a 37-yard field goal with 4:15 remaining in the first half. 45 seconds later, Roe attempted to throw it away but it was picked off once again, and this one was returned 24 yards for a touchdown.
Small would add a 43-yard field goal to make it 30-0 Tigers at the half.
The Katy defense held Atascocita once again and Seth Small showed off his leg, booting a 43 yarder as time ran down on the half to increase their lead 30-0. Atascocita was struggling, only managing 59 total yards at the half.
The Eagles woes continued in the second half as KeSean Rowe forced and recovered, a fumble giving Katy the ball back on the Eagles’ three-yard line. Freshman phenom Bronson Mclelland entered the game scoring on a three-yard pass to his fullback Masen Rivera. Katy capped off their scoring with a 31-yard run from Josh Oglesby.
Vance Valentine/TexasHSFootball
The Katy defense was rock-solid on the night, holding the Eagles on their own side of the field until the fourth quarter.
Head coach Gary Joseph echoed Rowe’s earlier comments, complimenting the play of his defense. Katy will face Galena Park North Shore next Saturday at 2 pm at NRG Stadium. As the Tigers look forward to North Shore, Joseph said he is ready for the challenge.
“They’re well-coached,” he said. “We know we’re going to have to play well it was a dogfight last year, and we have to be physical and ready to move the football.”
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