There were bright spots for Katy on Friday.

The Tigers jumped out to an early lead against one of the top teams in the state, they battled and for a half held a rushing attack in check that can normally carve up any team, they battled back from adversity to stay in a game for nearly four quarters and they learned how to be successful going up against tough teams.

But at the end of the day, No. 9 ranked Atascocita made more plays when it counted than Katy. The Eagles stepped up in the second half and erased a deficit before pulling away in the fourth quarter, they forced Katy into turnovers and wore down the Tiger defense in what ended in a 41-24 Katy loss.

“Our kids, regardless of the score, they grew up tonight,” said Katy head coach Gary Joseph. “I think they realized we can play with really good teams and if we do well enough, we might well see these guys again down the line. They’re a talented team, our kids are going to learn from this and be ok.”

Katy came out strong on both sides of the ball, stopping Atascocita on its first drive before rolling down the field and scoring on a 17-yard Tremayne Hill run on their opening drive. After another stop, Katy went down the field again and took a two-possession lead when Gunner Nelson found Cade McCall wide open off a play action and threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to the junior.

“We came out so intense on both sides and everyone was lifting each other up,” said junior linebacker Jeremiah Smith. We were making sure we were in the game. First half on defense we played so well and didn’t let them rip off any big gains, but second half all of that kind of died down. We just have to learn from it, remember this next week and the rest of the season that we have to keep our energy up.”

But Atascocita answered back from there. Cardae Mack capped off the Eagles next drive with a 22-yard pass to Christopher Toney for a touchdown and on the next Atascocita drive Mack tied it on a 33-yard pass to Toney. Katy had the answer though, driving down the field late in the half before Giovanni Moreno nailed a 25-yard field goal that made it 17-14 Katy heading into halftime.

“I think maybe some of the guys thought we had it won after a half and you can’t every believe that,” said Katy senior quarterback Gunner Nelson. “We played well that first half, we went into halftime up and it just wasn’t that same intensity in the second half, while they came out even harder. They came out of the half, took all the momentum and just kept carrying it. We have to make sure we don’t let that happen again.”

Mack threw for a third touchdown just two minutes into the third quarter when on the Eagles first play from scrimmage in the half, he hit Broderick Malone for an 80-yard score. Katy retook the lead on its next drive when Nelson found McCall again off a play action or a 19-yard touchdown and Katy led heading into the fourth quarter, but miscues doomed the Tigers down the stretch.

A bad snap on a punt set Atascocita up in prime field position early in the fourth and Mack scored again, this time on a 6-yard run and after the next Katy stalled, Atascocita drove the length of the field before scoring on a 6-yard Tory Blaylock run. The Tigers threw an interception as they tried to climb back into it and Atascocita added a 5-yard touchdown run from Blaylock late on to seal the win.

“We just can’t have turnovers like that, snapping the ball over the punters head and giving the ball away like that can decide games,” Joseph said. “But we’ll get back to practice and fix that. That’s what it all comes back to is what you do to respond after a loss like this in practice. This type of stuff will get corrected and I know we will be a better team for it.”

It didn’t help the Tigers that they were down their top three running backs late in the game, Hill picked up a knock in the second half and London Pilbeam also picked up an injury in the game. Katy was already without MJ Benas heading into the week and were forced to use Aqualis Jordan, who is normally a defensive back for the team, at running back late in the fourth quarter. Jordan did a fine job as well, carrying the ball three times for over 30 yards, but it is a tough situation to be in for an offense that wants to start with the run and build the pass game off of it.

“We just have to get Aqualis some more reps there, he doesn’t have many yet and it’s going to take a big of time,” Joseph said. “He’s been playing some defensive back for us, he did a good job today and made some good tackles. We just have to get him ready at running back two and he’ll have to play both ways for right now.”

The Tigers head into district and will have Morton Ranch up next as they try to bounce back. It’s something that the whole team is sure they will grow from and they know that in the long term, this game and this experience will help them achieve their goals.

“It was important to test ourselves against a team like this and know how we can raise our level,” Nelson said. “Now we have to worry about district, our goal is to win it and make sure we are in a good spot for playoffs and to do that we have to bring it every week and have our minds and bodies right. This helps us because we know there’s more work to be done if we want to accomplish all of our goals.”

Atascocita 41, Katy 24

First quarter

K: Tremayne Hill 17 run (Giovanni Moreno kick) 7:49

K: Gunner Nelson 32 pass to Cade McCall (Moreno kick) 3:34

Second quarter

A: Cardae Mack 22 pass to Christopher Toney (Parker Cushing kick) 10:06

A: Mack 33 pass to Toney (Cushing kick) 4:25

K: Moreno 25 field goal, 1:08

Third quarter

A: Mack 80 pass to Broderick Malone, 10:00

K: Gunner Nelson 19 pass to McCall 4:45

Fourth quarter

A: Mack 6 run (Cushing kick) 11:54

A: Tory Blaylock 6 run (Cushing kick) 7:20

A: Blaylock 3 run (Cushing kick) 5:00

Team stats

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Katy: Tremayne Hill, 22-99-1; Aqualis Jordan, 3-31; Joshua Smith, 4-11; London Pilbeam, 4-10; Gunner Nelson, 1-10 Atascocita: Cardae Mack, 17-109-1; Tory Blaylock, 13-62-2; Christopher Toney, 1-6;

Passing – Katy: Gunner Nelson, 11-21-156-2-1; Atascocita: Cardae Mack, 11-18-245-3-1;

Receiving – Katy: Cade McCall, 5-86-2; Israel Olotu-Judah, 3-50; Ryan Carbone, 2-15; Matthew Saulsberry, 1-5; Atascocita: Christopher Toney, 7-130-2; Broderick Malone, 1-80-1; Kyran Pate, 3-35; Tory Blaylock, 1-10;