Katy Tompkins defeated Fort Bend Travis 49-21 Thursday at Rhodes Stadium on the back of four interceptions by the defense and four rushing touchdowns by sophomore Wyatt Young.

The Tompkins defense got started early as on the second play of the game, senior linebacker Cole Binkley broke up a pass and senior defensive back Tyler Collins intercepted the ball, returning it 16-yards for a Falcon touchdown.

“We just wanted to come out fast and that’s what we did,” Collins said.

The Tompkins offense did not have the same success on their first two possessions as the offensive line allowed three sacks to stop the drives cold.

The third drive was the charm as Tompkins started on the Travis 31 yard line after a short punt. After picking up a first down on three plays, sophomore quarterback Wyatt Young ran the ball out of the wildcat formation and ran through a defender on his way to a 16-yard touchdown.

The two defenses allowed just a combined 41 yards of offense in the first quarter despite the 14-0 score, but the defensive battle shifted as the offenses found success with deep passes in the second quarter.

Travis took advantage first on a 46-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Gabriel Van Wyk from senior quarterback Anthony Njoku.

Tompkins answered back quickly as their own pair of seniors, quarterback Cole Francis and receiver Joshua McMillan. The two connected on a 43-yard deep route to get the ball to the Travis 13-yard line. Two plays later, Young ran in his second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard rush.

With less than a minute remaining, Travis’ junior receiver Robert Sims beat his defender for a 58-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-14 for Tompkins at the half.

“We had a couple miscommunications on the back end and allowed two cheap touchdowns,” Collins said. “We were kind of getting down on ourselves, but we talked at the half, came out and knew we had to finish this game.”

Njoku threw the ball well to start the third quarter, but the Falcons defense found its footing as senior defensive back Ethan Rawlins intercepted a pass and returned it 50 yards to the Tiger 35-yard line.

The Falcons wasted no time as senior receiver Chidubem Lebechi slipped past the Travis linebackers and caught a pass from Francis for a 35-yard touchdown.

After another defensive stop, Young led the Falcons up the field and finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run, his fourth touchdown of the game.

Young finished the game with 97 yards rushing on nine runs and 57 yards receiving on five catches. It was the sophomore’s second game with four touchdowns, his first was against Morton Ranch earlier this season.

“(Young) does a lot of good things with the ball in his hands, the offensive line blocked well and he hit the creases when he needs to. He did an outstanding job and I’m proud of him,” head coach Todd McVey said.

Young said the Falcons just had to stick with the game plan and roll with what worked.

“All of our shifts and motions confused them so I just took advantage of it,” Young said.

The Tigers responded with a three play, 65-yard drive up the field capped off by a 20-yard rushing touchdown by senior running back Jamison Singleterry. 

The drive was aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty on the second play to send Travis into the redzone. Penalties plagued the Falcons all night as the team gave up 100 yards due to penalties.

Tompkins forced another pair of interceptions out of Njoku on the next two Travis drives, one by senior cornerback Cody Chapman and another by junior defensive back Samuel Kalu, which sealed the game.

Njoku had a 48 percent completion percentage on 29 passes and 48 yards rushing on 18 attempts as a result of the Tompkins defensive scheme.

“We kept him kind of in the pocket like we wanted to. He’s improved and he kept us on our heels,” McVey said.

Overall, Tompkins held Travis’ offense to just 302 yards while putting up over 400 yards against its defense.

“It just builds confidence and we just need to keep building energy and keep going,” Wyatt said.

Tompkins will face the winner of Jersey Village and Houston Westside next week in the Area round of the playoffs.

Tompkins 49, Fort Bend Travis 21

First quarter

Tompkins: Tyler Collins 16 interception return (Andrew Horner kick) 11:18

Tompkins: Wyatt Young 16 run (Horner kick) 1:40

Second quarter

Travis: Anthony Njoku 46 pass to Gabriel Van Wyk (Antonio Rubio kick) 3:28

Tompkins: Young, 4 run (Horner kick) 1:38

Travis: Njoku 58 pass to Robert Sims (Rubio kick) 0:40

Third quarter

Tompkins: Cole Francis 35 pass to Chidubem Lebechi (Horner kick) 6:53

Tompkins: Young 9 run (Horner kick) 2:55

Travis: Jamison Singleterry 20 run (Rubio kick) 2:12

Fourth quarter

Tompkins: Caleb Komolafe 1 run (Andrew Horner kick) 10:06

Tompkins: Young 21 run (Horner kick) 2:37

Team stats

Individual Statistics

Rushing -- Tompkins: Wyatt Young, 9-97-4; Caleb Blocker, 12-86; Caleb Komolafe, 8-29; Julius Mourning, 2-22; Cole Francis, 6-(-12) ; Travis: Anthony Njoku, 18-48; Jamison Singleterry, 4-39

Passing -- Tompkins: Cole Francis, 13-22-179-1-0; Wyatt Young, 0-2-0-0-0; Travis: Anthony Njoku, 14-29-215-2-4

Receiving – Tompkins: Joshua McMillan, 7-87; Wyatt Young, 5-57; Chidubem Lebechi, 1-35-1;  Travis: Gabriel Van Wyk, 7-104-1; Robert Sims, 3-59-1; Jamison Singleterry, 2-26; John Okoeguale, 1-19; Carmelo Ratliff, 1-7