photos: Steve Thomas

Katy Comes Back to Drop North Shore in Squeaker

On Thursday night, high school football kicked off in Texas with a titanic clash between two Houston area powerhouses. These squads have a combined 14 state championships. Coming off a UIL 6A Division 1 State Championship, the nationally-ranked Galena Park North Shore Mustangs hosted the Katy Tigers. Lone Star Gridiron has two two teams ranked #1 (GPNS) and #5 (Katy) in their recent preseason Super Team Rankings.

Last year, the Tigers and Mustangs faced off twice. The first meeting was in both teams’ season opener, and the second meeting was in the Regional semifinals of the UIL 6A Division I playoffs. North Shore won both meetings. Entering this season, North Shore had to replace a number of starters from last year’s squad but also returned several key position players. Notably missing from the North Shore lineup Thursday was standout wide receiver and Texas A&M commit Shadrach Evans. Evans had suffered an injury during the offseason. Because of their depth, the Mustangs entered this season nationally ranked and as heavy favorites to repeat as state champions.

When asked how he was keeping his team focused amidst the national spotlight, head coach Jon Kay said that his players were doing an excellent job maintaining self- discipline and focusing on their own. Kay also praised his team’s work ethic throughout the summer and in preparation for the new season.

Katy, meanwhile, also entered the year having to replace a number from last year’s squad. The most notable of these was star running back Deondrick Glass. In a preseason interview with Lone Star Gridiron, head coach Gary Joseph mentioned that his offense would likely need to focus more on the passing game this season. Joseph was confident, however, that his team was up to the task. For Thursday, Joseph said that the main focus was being able to respond to North Shore when they made big plays.

On the opening drive, the Katy defense stopped the North Shore offense dead in its tracks with defensive back Bryan Massey’s interception in the end zone. Following the interception, the North Shore defense got a stop of its own forcing a punt. The Mustang offense then opened the scoring when quarterback Dematrius Davis connected with wide receiver John Gentry for an 81-yard touchdown pass. Neither offense was able to gain any momentum until the second quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, Katy quarterback Bronson McClelland tied the game with a 31-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordan Patrick on fourth down and twelve. North Shore retook the lead with a 25-yard touchdown run from star running back Zach Evans. On the ensuing drive, North Shore defensive back Upton Stout intercepted McClelland’s pass in Katy territory. Davis then extended the North Shore lead to 21-7 with a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Charles King.

Coming into Thursday’s game, much of the national spotlight was centered on Zach Evans as one of the nation’s top running back prospects. In the second half of Thursday’s game, Katy running back Ron Hoff stole the show. On the first drive, Hoff capped off a 60-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown run which narrowed the gap to 21-14. Hoff finished the night with 33 rushes for 219 yards and touchdown. Tiger defensive back DeQuendrick Dawson recovered a muffed return on the ensuing kickoff, and kicker Nemanja Lazic netted a 19-yard field goal to cut the North Shore lead to 21-17.

For the rest of the game, the Katy defense stifled the normally potent North Shore offense. With just under five minutes left in the game, McClelland converted a second fourth down for a touchdown with a five-yard pass to tight end Samuel Dunn to give the Tigers a 24-21 lead. The defense once again stifled the Mustang offense to preserve the upset.

Next week, Katy (1-0) will travel to Turner Stadium in Humble to take on the Humble Atascocita Eagles on Friday night at 7:00pm CDT. North Shore (0-1) will travel to TDECU Stadium at the University of Houston on Thursday to take on the Fort Bend Ridge Point Panthers at 7:00pm CDT

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by Steve Thomas

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