Seth Davis kept pounding the rock all night.

The senior running back was searching, waiting for the run where he could bust the game open, but it didn’t seem to be coming like they always do for the Mississippi State commit.

Davis, waited all night, staying behind his offensive line, staying patient and waiting for the opportunity to make a game winning play against Atascocita.

Davis’ time finally came late in the fourth quarter, as he broke off a 57-yard run and handed Katy a one possession lead with just over a minute remaining in the game, as Katy came out 35-28 winners in a stiff test against Atascocita on Friday at Legacy Stadium.

“I just had to stay patient and wait for that chance,” Davis said. “my offensive line got me a good hook block, so I went and I cut inside first before I cut out. I was in the open field and I was just able to make a play. Against guys like this, you just have to make one cut and go so that’s what I tried to do. Luckily I was able to do that for the big play and go score.”

It was a stern test that Katy faced from Atascocita as two teams ranked in the state’s top ten met in the second week of the season.

The Tigers were faced with resistance all night, with Atascocita taking the lead in both the second and the third quarters, but both times and with the game tied down the stretch the Tigers had the answer as well.

“We knew coming into this that we had to stick to our gameplan,” said Katy quarterback Caleb Koger. “We know what we are going to do, and it was a good game plan. We executed it and wore down the defense and it eventually got us the win. It was a great win.”

Koger himself had a strong performance, throwing for 200 yards and completing 11 of 21 passes to go with two passing touchdowns while also rushing for 20 yards.

And Koger was the one who got Katy on the board in the first quarter, turning a bootleg into a 14-yard scramble for a touchdown.

Atascocita came back to tie things early in the second quarter on a 14-yard pass from Zion Brown to Claude Slaughter and the Eagles then took the lead on a pass from Brown to Kyran Lee. But Katy had the response, as Davis tied things at 14 with 30 seconds left in the half on a 1-yard touchdown run.

Davis ended the night with 187 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

“Every time they scored, we would just tell ourselves, ‘it’s ok, we’re good, we can’t give up on ourselves.’” Davis said. “We kept fighting and that’s what got us over the hump.”

Katy then retook the lead in the third quarter on a 22-yard pass from Koger to Adam Jackson, and after Atascocita tied it again Koger foung Micah Koenig for a 13-yard score to again give Katy the lead.

Jackson saw lots of time in the second half at receiver after J.R. Ceyanes went down and made the most of it, leading the team with five catches for 70 yards to go along with his touchdown.

“We had seem Adam do it all summer and fall camp and at the end of the day it’s a matter of getting an opportunity,” Adam got that opportunity and he made the most of it tonight. There’s no doubt he helped our football team tonight and that’s a big part of what we’re trying to do with these games is develop that depth.”

Atascocita tied it up once again with 2:45 remaining, leaving ample time for Katy to drive down the field and for Davis to make his big game winning run.

“We weren’t afraid to run it at any point and that kind of defines us,” Koger said. “Even when we got stopped, even when it was late in the game, we kept pounding it and that got us the win. This was a fun game.”

Katy will have only have one week before they take on another big time team though, as they face Tompkins to begin District 19-6A play in week three of the season. But Katy is experienced, and they’re ready for another challenge.

“We still have lots we can improve,” Davis said. “The biggest thing is for us to go out there, work hard in practice and prepare for another tough football team. We just have to pay hard every single day, that’s what it boils down to.”

Katy 35, Atascocita 28

First quarter

K: Caleb Koger 14 run (Hunter Ondrush kick) 3:02

Second quarter

A: Zion Brown 14 pass to Claude Slaughter (Yusuf Ibrahim kick) 11:56

A: Brown 35 pass to Kyran Lee (Ibrahim kick) 5:54

K: Seth Davis 1 run (Ondrush kick) 0:30

Third quarter

K: Koger 22 pass to Adam Jackson (Ondrush kick) 7:26

A: Tory Blalock 4 run (Ibrahim kick) 5:21

Fourth quarter

K: Koger 13 pass to Micah Koenig (Ondrush kick) 7:15

A: Blalock 1 run (Ibrahim kick) 2:45

K: Seth Davis 57 run (Ondrush kick) 1:01

Team stats

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Katy: Seth Davis, 29-187-2; Caleb Koger, 3-20-1; Dallas Glass, 4-13; Chase Johnsey, 1-0; Romarion Tillman 1-(-1); Atascocita: Tory Blaylock, 18-64; Zion Brown, 5-17;

Passing – Katy: Caleb Koger, 11-21-263-2-0; Seth Davis, 0-1-0-0-0; Atascocita: Zion Jones, 20-38-263-2-0;

Receiving – Katy: Adam Jackson, 5-70-1; Oliver Ginn, 1-61; Micah Koenig, 4-55-1; J.R. Ceyanes, 1-14; Atascocita: Darrell Gill, 8-97, Kyran Lee, 5-80-1; Christian Hicks, 3-46; Justin Montgomery, 3-26; Claude Slaughter, 1-14-1;