HOUSTON — Katy High defensive players said it was their best game all season. Coach Gary Joseph agreed.

Even on a cold and windy evening on Friday, Nov. 22, at Tully Stadium, and despite the inconsistencies of their offense, the Tigers dominated. No. 2 state-ranked and No. 8 nationally-ranked Katy remains undefeated at 12-0 after handling Cy-Fair, 27-14, in their Class 6A-Division I area playoff game, holding the previously-undefeated Bobcats to 135 total yards and six first downs while forcing four turnovers.

“This is probably our most complete game we’ve played,” said senior cornerback Bryan Massey, whose 40-yard pick-6 with 5:45 left put the game away for good for Katy. “We tackled, we fit well, we did well talking to each other, from the DBs, to linebackers, to the front.”

Massey and senior cornerback DQ Dawson collected interceptions. Junior defensive back Dalton Johnson and senior defensive lineman Timothy Nugent recovered fumbles.

It was all enough to make up for an offense that produced 326 total yards (but at 3.4 yards per play), two touchdowns and two turnovers.

“We worked hard all week,” senior defensive lineman Jayden Holcomb said. “The scout team did a great job. Without them, we’d never had the success we had. But we all did our own assignment, did our jobs. I feel like we worked better as a defense. We’re getting better and better each game we go.”

Cy-Fair junior running back L.J. Johnson, a five-star recruit holding 18 offers from practically any school of his choice, entered the game averaging 9.7 yards per carry and 166.7 rushing yards per game.

The 5-foot-10, 200-pounder managed 118 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries (6.9 yards per tote) against Katy; eighty-five of those yards came on an impressive burst as the third-quarter clock expired to cut Katy’s deficit to 20-14. Otherwise, Johnson ran for more than 10 yards just once and had five carries that went for negative yards.

In all, Cy-Fair, a run-heavy power offense like Katy, was held to 95 yards on 22 carries.

“You can’t play scared,” Dawson said. “We’re coached to come downhill, wrap up and tackle. That’s what we did. We see that offense all the time in practice, so we came out and played our brand of football. That was it.”

The Bobcats averaged 2.9 yards per play.

“They’ve played some good games all year, but against this type of quality opponent, this was probably their best game,” Joseph said of his defense. “Our kids get used to playing against a running football team all day in practice, since the spring. We have some good football players and good backs, and our guys go up against them every day. Not to take away anything from them or that kid, our kids were determined to come out and re-establish themselves and get the mojo back.”

The previous week, the Tigers’ defense was subpar, at best, in allowing 28 points and 366 yards to Ridge Point in a seven-point bi-district playoff win.

The Cy-Fair game was close as well.

Trailing 7-3 late in the first half, Katy scored on a Dylan George 2-yard rollout pass from junior quarterback Bronson McClelland. Then, leading 13-7 late in the third quarter after the second of junior kicker Nemanja Lazic’s two field goals, McClelland threw another touchdown pass, this time to senior Jordan Patrick for a catch-and-run 42-yard score and a 20-7 lead with 3:59 left in the third quarter.

“It wasn’t supposed to go to me,” said Patrick, who had 96 yards and a score on four catches. “But the defense went to something else, so it was a quick little pass to get a first down. I wasn’t supposed to break it, but we’ve got to be playmakers; once you catch the ball, get it and run. That’s what I did.”

And despite the pair of picks, McClelland was effective, too, completing 13 of 24 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. During one nice stretch that started in the second quarter and went into the third, McClelland completed 10 consecutive passes.

It was desperately needed, as Katy got little going with the running game.

With senior starting running back Ron Hoff and backup Sherman Smith out with ankle injuries suffered early during the first quarter of the Ridge Point game, junior Jalen Davis once again got the call as the Tigers’ primary ballcarrier. But after rushing for 219 yards and two scores against Ridge Point, Davis found Cy-Fair’s physical and fast defense more formidable, compiling 102 yards on 30 carries for 3.4 yards per carry.

Joseph said Hoff’s status is unsure for next week’s third round playoff rematch against defending state champion North Shore (11-1) at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29, at NRG Stadium.

“I don’t know,” Joseph said about Hoff. “They tried and did everything in the world they could to get him ready, but I wasn’t going to put him out there if he’s defenseless or going to limp through it. He told me he couldn’t go, and that’s fine. We’ve got other running backs. Hopefully we can get Sherman well and not have as many carries for Jalen, but we’ll do what we have to do to win the ballgame.”

For now, the Tigers are a confident bunch, particularly on defense.

“This is exactly what we needed,” Massey said. “If we didn’t play this team at the level that we did, then (this) week would’ve been a bad week for us, more than likely. This showed what we can do. At this point, we need to be at full throttle.”