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The Katy Tigers Are Set To Defend Their Title

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Both Katy and Smithson Valley came out throwing the football Saturday afternoon even though both teams are known to be a run first team.  Smithson Valley scored on a 74 yard pass play with just 1:18 gone in the game when WR Cody Matthews broke a tackle and showed great speed on the way to the end zone.   Katy answered 19 seconds later with a 79 yard pass to Taylor Brandt who was wide open down the middle of the field.  

Things slowed down just a little after that but both teams finished with 460 yards through the air.   Katy combined their attack with an even better running game while their defense shut down the Rangers on the ground.  The Tigers eventually pulled away in the 2nd half and beat the Rangers 41-19 in the 5A Division II Semifinals at Rice Stadium.

After the two long passes to open the game, the Tigers were able to stop the Rangers on their next possession.   After a short punt, Katy took over at the Rangers 40 and RB Will Jeffery ran it in from 14 yards out.  The key play of the drive was a 20 yard pass to FB Chris Roberson.   On the Rangers next possession, the Tiger defense led by LB Sebi Carbajal was able to shut them down again.   Katy then went to the run and cranked out a 13 play drive that went all the way to the SV 2 yard line.   The Tigers had to settle for a 26 yard field goal to bring the score to 17-7.    The 1st quarter ended with SV driving.   They made it to the Katy 37 with a long 30 yard pass to Cody Matthews.  

1st Quarter Stats:
Rushing     Katy -- 75       SV -- 7
Passing      Katy -- 107     SV -- 120
Cody Matthews made a great catch 2 plays into the 2nd quarter when he caught a 37 yard pass for a TD.   The XP was no good to make the score 17-13 Katy.     The teams traded punts and Katy took the ball from their own 3 to the SV 35 before having to punt.   The Rangers took over at their own 20 with 2:29 remaining until half.  The Tiger defense came up big again.   After a sack by Zac Griffen, Sam Holl picked off a pass at midfield after the SV QB was under pressure again.   After a few penalties on this drive, Katy was up to 8 penalties in the 1st half!!!   With about a minute left, 3 and 12 from the Ranger 38, QB Parker Ray hit Taylor Brandt at the 22 and he outran the defense to the end zone and Katy took at 24-13 lead with just 56 seconds left until half.   This is how the half ended.

Stats
Rushing        Katy     26-127               SV     11-9
Passing         Katy       7-203               SV     10-171
Penalty         Katy       8-57                  SV       2-25
Katy opened the 3rd quarter with a 6 play drive (5 runs), before having to punt.  Their 1 pass play went for 19 yards.  Smithson Valley went 3 and out and punted to the Katy 45.   It took Katy 6 plays to go the 55 yards when RB Michael Webber took it into the end zone from 5 yards out.  The key play was a statue of liberty play where FB Chris Roberson took it 35 yards to the SV 18.    With 6:06 left in the 3rd, the score was now 31-13 Katy.    The Katy defense stopped SV on a 4th down play at the Katy 42.   Katy had to punt after several more penalties did them in (11 now in the game).  Good thing for Katy that they have over 200 rushing and 200 passing yards in the game.   The quarter ended with the Rangers having the ball on their on 19.  

Stats
Rushing       Katy    40-209           SV     17-14
Passing       Katy     11-234           SV     13-175

Smithson Valley punted and it only took Katy 6 plays to go 53 yards (aided by 2 SV Personal Foul calls).   Vernon Jeffries  took it the final 8 yards.   Katy now has 440 total yards in the game and a 38-13 lead and only 8:44 left in the game.   The Rangers went to a hurry up offense and went 68 yards in just over a minute to cut the score to 38-19.  Ranger QB Jacob Brown ran it in from 17 yards.   Katy had another good drive which ended with a 36 yard field goal to extend the lead to 41-19 with 4:33 left in the game.   The key play was when Will Jeffrey ran it 57 yards to the SV 15.  Katy now has 303 rushing yards for the game and 501 total yards.   The teams traded possessions to end the game with Katy earning a 41-19 victory.

Stats
Running         Katy    53-301          SV      27-54
Passing           Katy   12-234           SV     18-226

Katy will play the winner of the Wylie/Copperas Cove game next Saturday at Reliant Stadium.

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