Katy - The only team to knock off Carroll

[The Great Evaluator]

Seeing the All Star game in the Alamodome with Carroll QB Chase Daniel returning to the only place he lost a varsity game brought back memories of the 2003 State Title game. The Tigers O-line was one of the best I've seen in 20 yrs. of watching Tx. High School Football. There's a good recap of this game at http://www.insidehighschoolfootball.com/katy.htm

One of the great upsets of all time...Or was it? Katy fans probably felt like it was their game all the way. Let's Talk!

[dragonsdaddy]

thanks, but i've enjoyed all of that game i can stand.

[supercentex]

I was at that game..and what a great one it was..........the place went nuts when Katy scored that last touchdown.

[ktCarl]

I would guess it would be called an upset since I believe SLC was ranked ahead of Katy and SLC was in it's 3rd(?) year of 5A football with a 30 game win streak. I didn't think Katy had the game in hand until the very last play. The game was that close.

[The Great Evaluator]

I too was there and 4 things stand out about the game.

1. Katy's offensive line was massive - They looked like ringers!
The Nebraska Cornhuskers would have been proud to have that line.

2. Special Teams - Katy blocking the punt turned out to be the margin of victory.

3. Mr. Reliable Garrett Hartley - money all year...missed a 37 yarder(barely)
A game of inches.

4. Will Thompson interecepting the pass to seal the game after getting beat deep on the game's third play by Kenton Gedwed.

That's what sports is all about. Overcoming adversity and in the end being the hero. Props to Katy, they executed a great game plan and did what no one else has been able to do...Knock off Southlake Carroll in 5A.

Kind of ironic that Daniel ends his career in a place that will always be remembered as the one that got away.

[ktCarl]

I thought that field goal attempt was 45 yards. He got his left foot too close to his kicking foot and 'sliced' it to the left. I think it had the distance. That's a pretty strong leg for an 18 yr old.

If you can imagine this, I believe the '97 team's offensive line was bigger.

[jtk1519]

It was an upset for sure. I watched that game on TV and it seemed like Will Thompson was EVERYWHERE. Katy won that game with an offense that slowly and methodically marched the ball down the field taking up huge chunks of clock. That mighty SLC offense couldnt score when they were on the sideline. Brilliant gameplan by the Katy coaching staff.

[KT2000]

Yeah, I was about to say Hartley's attempt was from at least 40 yards and he ended up hooking it badly a good 10-15 yards left of the post. He got great power behind the kick, just mishit it.

Katy was thisclose to letting opportunity slip by because of an inability to finish off drives in that game. The Tigers left a good amount of points out there, and obviously redeemed themselves in the last two minutes.

Despite Katy winning the battle in the trenches, Carroll still almost found a way to win after Dodge made a gutsy call to change up the approach on offense in the fourth quarter.

The third quarter blocked punt for a safety was obviously a huge play to swing momentum and confidence Katy's way. Defensively, I think the Tigers surprised Carroll by effectively applying pressure on Daniel. His decisions weren't as sharp when under pressure, and Smithson Valley came in with a similar mindset on defense a year later. However, they could not control the clock on offense.

Against teams that run an offense that spreads the ball around, I think you have to be attack minded on defense because there is no way you can sit back and try and cover 4-5-6 pass receivers for an entire game. I've seen defenses get too caught up trying to sit back and defend an offense like that only to be burned. You can only cover for so long as a secondary given the rules against contact downfield for one, as well as the ability of the opposing offense to execute its system.

[drgnbkr]

It was a 45 yard attempt for Hartley..."Money" all year...and it was the only time all year Chase Daniel looked like Quincy Carter..."Deer in the headlights"...on the Int....

[Favpack]

In my mind the Katy win was a huge upset. KT nailed it really - both Katy and SV did a good job of applying pressure, playing pretty recklessly on D, hitting hard and giving up an easy one along the way. Worked for Katy, almost worked for SV. These are the only two teams to really find an answer to harness the SLC O to some degree.

[The Great Evaluator]

I stand corrected...I knew it was no chip shot. 37 yards was my best guess but i would put that game in my top 5 all time championship games. The shot of Ben Hickson dropping to his knees against the backdrop of the Katy Fans will be one I'll always remember. 2 class programs going at it for 48 minutes. Truly a great game.

[KT2000]

Controlled chaos...a defensive motto...As a unit, it takes an extremely high level of discipline to play like that because a good offense will still take the yardage chunks if you play too recklessly (overplaying pass/run lanes). If you are going to apply a lot of pressure, then you'd better have some good open field tacklers because chances are good they'll be in more one on one situations...and they, of course, can make the difference in a no gainer or 80 yard TD.

[Texasfrog]

I stand corrected...I knew it was no chip shot. 37 yards was my best guess but i would put that game in my top 5 all time championship games. The shot of Ben Hickson dropping to his knees against the backdrop of the Katy Fans will be one I'll always remember. 2 class programs going at it for 48 minutes. Truly a great game.


The big turning point in that game was the blocked punt. It seemed like that really lifted Katy to finish the game strong.

Both teams were great and it was a true football battle.