Katy was in a tricky spot this week.

The Tigers were coming off a tough win over Jordan. A game that was between two teams fighting to keep pace for a district championship and a game that was required everything from the Tigers for full four quarters. Coming off those kinds of games can be hard, it can lead to a let down the next week with teams not being able to keep up that same type of intensity.

But that wasn’t an option for the Tigers. Katy knew the stakes for this week as well, a matchup with the only remaining unbeaten team in District 19-6A, a team on a six game win streak and an opponent that required that same level that katy brought against Jordan the previous week.

The Tigers brought that intensity from the opening kickoff until the final whistle, beating Paetow 37-3 in a dominant performance and for the first time this season, moving along into first place in district with two games remaining.

“For us right now, it’s just like the playoffs,” said Katy head coach Gary Joseph. “You have to get up every week if you want to be a good football team and that’s what we challenged the guys to do this week. I’m proud of our kids for executing things well, we moved the ball well on offense and we finally got a turnover on defense and that was good to see.”

Katy got a huge effort from its defense once again and for the fourth straight week, the Tigers held their opponent without an offensive touchdown. Overall the Tigers limited to strong Paetow rushing attack to just 11 yards on the ground while only giving up 116 yards through the air.

Offensively the Tigers got a balanced effort from both the run and the pass and were able to do both effectively. Aqualis Jordan led the way on the ground with 103 yards, Gunner Nelson and the pass game bounced back after struggling last week, with Nelson throwing for 183 yards and two scores while completing 13 of 17 passes. Israel Olotu-Judah led the way in the receving game with 79 yards on four catches.

“We have worked so hard to keep improving week by week as a defense,” said senior safety Jacob Hilton, who had an interception in the fourth quarter. Especially as a secondary we have just gone in so hard every practice because we knew we need to be better. The first two games weren’t great for us, but as the season has gone on we have really clicked and gotten better. The teamwork and everything has been great.”

Katy wasted no time getting on the board in the game, the Tigers forced a three and out on Paetow’s first drive and then drove down the field before Nelson threw a 6-yard touchdown to Joshua Smith early in the first. Nelson added a 1-yard touchdown run later in the quarter, Paetow got its only points of the game early in the second on a 30-yard field goal from Omar Yaghi and Katy answered back with a score on a 13-yard run from Cade McCall that put the Tigers up 20-3 heading into the half.

Nelson added a 13-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Fox in the fourth quarter and with backups in, Tony Manuel scored his first varsity touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 17-yard run before Giovanni Moreno closed out the scoring with a 29-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter.

“These are tough teams, but we know we can push through and play better than any of them,” said junior running back Aqualis Jordan. “You just have to push through, grind a team down for four quarters and prove you are a better football team and that’s what we have been able to do on offense and defense.”

With the win, Katy sits alone atop the district standings and clinches a playoff spot, but for the Tigers this isn’t mission accomplished. Their goal isn’t to be there for one week, it’s to claim an outright district championship and to do that they need to win out the rest of the way. The Tigers will continue that quest when they face Tompkins next week, a team that is riding a three game winning streak.

“The objective for us is to win district and win it outright,” said Katy head coach Gary Joseph. “We may have clinched a playoff spot but to win district outright, we have to win these last two games. We don’t want to share it or have to bounce back from a loss, we want to keep building and focus on the game in front of us each week. We have a lot of pride in what we have done as a team and in order for it to pay off, we need to take care of business.”

Katy 37, Paetow 3

First quarter

K: Gunner Nelson 6 pass to Joshua Smith (Giovanni Moreno kick) 7:08

K: Nelson 1 run (Moreno kick) 2:38

Second quarter

P: Omar Yaghi 30 field goal, 10:06

K: Cade McCall 13 run, 5:20

Third quarter

K: Nelson 13 pass to Ricky Fox (Moreno kick) 4:41

Fourth quarter

K: Tony Manuel 7 run (Moreno kick) 11:07

K: Moreno 29 field goal, 2:31

Team Statistics

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Katy: Aqualis Jordan, 18-103; Tony Manuel, 8-40-1; London Pilbeam, 3-17; Cade McCall, 1-13-1; Joshua Smith, 2-5; Nethaniel Gayhart, 1-5; Jackson Franklin, 1-2; Gunner Nelson, 5-(-17); Paetow: Terrence Johnson, 22-26; Kenneth Lee, 1-2; Jackson Farrar, 5-(-17);

Passing – Katy: Gunner Nelson, 13-17-183-2-0; Jackson Franklin, 2-5-57-0-0; Paetow: Jackson Farrar, 7-17-116-0-1;

Receiving – Katy: Israel Olotu-Judah, 4-79; Cade McCall, 4-48; Jon Stephens, 4-48; Joshua Smith, 2-36-1; Ryan Carbone, 1-16; Ricky Fox, 1-13-1;; Paetow: Joshua Scott, 3-56; Tyler Washington, 2-41; Ikenna Nwobu, 1-10; Daqualyn Lott, 1-9;