High School Football

Katy back in regional final against familiar foe

By Tyler Tyre, Sports Editor
Posted 12/1/22

“Everyone on this team knows what this is about and how we have to prepare,” said senior running back Seth Davis. “They’ve improved every week, week in and week out everyone is getting better and learning how to do their jobs better.

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High School Football

Katy back in regional final against familiar foe

Posted

For the third straight season, Katy is back in a familiar place.

The Tigers once again are back in the Class 6A-Division II Region III Final, and once again are looking to push towards the schools 10th state champion trophy.

It wasn’t always a foregone conclusion that Katy would get to this spot this year, but with improvements throughout the season both offensively and defensively, the Tigers are once again in a position where they can make history and claim another regional title.

“Everyone on this team knows what this is about and how we have to prepare,” said senior running back Seth Davis. “They’ve improved every week, week in and week out everyone is getting better and learning how to do their jobs better. From spring ball to now that’s been the goal, get better every week and you can see it happening at every position.”

That improvement has been on display with the results of Katy’s games. After very close games early in the season when playing Atascocita and Tompkins and a subpar game against Morton Ranch by Katy’s standards, the Tigers flipped a switch.
From that point on, Katy has won every game by at least 28 points and have not allowed any opponent to come close to them.

That has continued into the playoffs, as through three rounds, the Tigers have allowed just 28 points, while scoring 156 over the course of three weeks.

That culminated this weekend with a 35-7 win over Summer Creek, as the Tigers built up a four touchdown lead by halftime in a game that was never close.

Now the Tigers turn their attention to C.E. King, another District 21-6A squad just like Summer Creek, as Katy will face the Panthers at 7 p.m. Friday at NRG Stadium.

“The people in this program are very unselfish and that’s what we’re built on,” said Katy head coach Gary Joseph. “That’s who we our, it’s our identity. No matter how we play we have to be unselfish and do the little things for each other, the players have gotten that and understand it. Now the challenge is taking it into next week and being even better. That’s what we challenge our kids to do and we’ve already talked about it, we have to keep progressing and not go backwards.”

It’s the second straight season these two teams have met in the playoffs, with Katy coming out 41-24 winners last season. The Tigers have already faced two teams in C.E. King’s district this year and beaten two teams that came out winners over C.E. King this year in Atascocita and Summer Creek and Katy will look to take out a third when they take on the Panthers.

But Katy knows it won’t be easy, King has a very strong front seven, which will go head to head with Katy’s offensive line as the Tigers try to reach the state semifinals for the third straight year.

King’s offense runs through senior running back Keith Willis Jr. and they go as he goes. The senior has run for 1489 yards and 30 touchdowns so far this year, averaging over eight yards per carry while carrying the Panthers to the fourth round.
But no matter the opponent or situation, Katy is ready and they are excited to have a chance to prove themselves under the bright lights of NRG.

“It will be fun, but it’s about winning the ballgame,” Joseph said. “Our kids are going to have fun playing there and so will there’s. They’re excited about it, but at the end of the day it’s the next game. The focus for us is to go out and hopefully have a chance to play each of the next three weeks.”

Katy, Katy ISD, C.E. King, sports, football