On a night when the team celebrating Homecoming had to sit on the visitors’ side of the field and the only scoring of the first half came off the feet of the opposing teams’ field goal kickers, it was only fitting that the game between Memorial and Northbrook was decided on a fumble.

  The Baytown Lee Ganders defeated Port Arthur Memorial 29-23 Friday night in a District 21-5A game at Stallworth Stadium.

  It came down to two 44-yard field goals for Katy Taylor and Hastings in overtime Saturday night.   Hastings’ Leke Ojeshina got the last laugh, sealing a 24-21 win in a District 18-5A game. The first quarter was all clock as it wound down very fast.

The Aldine defense held Spring Woods on six fourth-down plays, making the difference in a 31-10 victory Saturday night at Thorne Stadium.

  Finally, Stratford could take a deep breath before the final snap. That’s because the Spartans gave perhaps their best wall-to-wall effort of the season Saturday night, cruising to a three-touchdown lead by halftime and routing MacArthur 45-14 in a District 19-5A game at Tully Stadium. Junior running back Rodney Anderson had something of a breakout game, rushing for 72 yards and scoring a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter but catching six passes for 100 yards. Stratford’s (5-2 overall, 3-1 district) previous four wins were by an average of 8 points, but the Spartans sprinted to a 14-0 lead by late in the first quarter and 28-7 at halftime. “We played pretty well for four quarters and that’s really the first time we’ve done that this year,” said Stratford coach Elliot Allen, whose team lost 19-14 to district leader Eisenhower on Oct.

The Katy Tigers showed everybody Saturday afternoon why they are ranked No.

      The Cypress Ridge Rams celebrated their Homecoming and their undefeated district record Friday night beating the Cypress Creek Cougars, 46-21.

      Strake Jesuit’s 5-1 record faced Cy Springs’ number one defense Friday night in a game that was sure to be a good one.

At Thorne Stadium it was standing room only for the big-time neighborhood rivalry between Aldine ISD schools Nimitz and Eisenhower on Friday night.   Though the Cougars made a fourth-quarter push, it was not enough as the Eagles remain undefeated in District 19-5A play with a 20-14 victory Friday night. “The kids fought…and persevered and came out with a win,” Eisenhower coach Darryl Phipps said.

        An overtime loss in the state playoffs last year wasn’t haunting Cinco Ranch football coach Don Clayton Friday night against Mayde Creek. Rather it was a 14-13 loss to the Rams two years ago, in which the Cougars missed an extra point. Once a last-minute defensive stand ensured overtime, Cinco Ranch wasted no time hitting the jugular.

            SPC district rivals Kinkaid and Episcopal rushed the field with urgency Friday night.

      Cypress Falls running back Shane Turner had four Division I offers entering Thursday night's nationally-televised game against Cy-Fair at The Berry Center. After rushing for 195 yards and four touchdowns in addition to a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, Turner's phone may be ringing non-stop from here on. Turner upstaged Cy-Fair running back Sam McGuffie, a Michigan commitment, by running for touchdowns from 3, 35 and 69 yards and taking the second-half kickoff goal-line to goal-line. "I hope I have some more offers.

          Lamar Consolidated’s 28-point second half performance proved to be the difference in Thursday’s match up against Seven Lakes at Rhodes Stadium.

Cy-Fair football coach Ed Pustejovsky didn’t have a second thought when ESPN approached him and Cypress Falls coach David Raffield about televising their game Thursday night.   “It (national exposure) is good for your kids,” Pustejovsky said.

A third consecutive 0-3 start didn’t send the Eisenhower football team scurrying to the nearest panic button. Unlike the past two years, in which the Eagles posted 3-7 records, they had a different feeling about this start.

{mosimage} The Athlete’s Connection has named Jhvaughn Forde, of Alief Hastings High School, the All-Star Athlete of the Week for his performance last Friday against the Katy Tigers.

     Eisenhower quarterback Kenneth Guiton scored a touchdown with less than 3 minutes to go in the game which ended up being the game winner as the Eagles’ second-half surge was the difference in a 19-14 win over Stratford Saturday night at Thorne Stadium. This game featured two teams that came into the contest undefeated in District 19-5A play.

           The Elsik Rams and Cinco Ranch Cougars faced off Saturday night as both teams were 2-0, looking to share the district lead with Katy at 3-0.

The Pasadena Memorial Mavericks went into Friday’s night match up with the South Houston Trojans coming off three shutouts in a row.

    The Northbrook Raiders faced the Aldine Mustangs at Tully stadium for what turned out to be a windy evening.

       The Mayde Creek football team knew early Saturday afternoon it would be in for a dogfight with winless Morton Ranch.

        The people of Katy were out in full force Friday night supporting their Tigers.

    When you compare two records such as 5-0 and 0-5 you would automatically bet the bank on the undefeated team, but when the Spring Woods Tigers hit the field Friday night against the undefeated Nimitz Cougars they proved you must always bring your “A” game.

        With two high-powered offenses like Cy Fair and Langham Creek, many would have probably expected a game with plenty of scores.

    Davis Miller passed for 139 yards and a touchdown and ran for 49 yards and a score to power Memorial to a 21-13 win against MacArthur on Friday night in a District 19-5A game at Thorne Stadium.   Miller scored from a yard in the first quarter and threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Neumann midway through the second.   Bo Aycock returned an interception with 3:03 left in the second to give the Mustangs a 21-0 lead.   Miller was 8-of-12 passing.   Justin Reese had a 5-yard touchdown run shortly before halftime and Izael Lewis had an 8-yard touchdown run for MacArthur (2-4, 2-1). Reese was 9-of-13 passing for 131 yards and an interception.

           The statistics from Cypress Falls’ 55-32 win at Strake Jesuit on Friday night suggests the Eagles’ coaches might not be warm and fuzzy over the defensive effort. That the Eagles allowed four touchdowns and 360 yards leads to the wrong conclusion. A week after Cypress Ridge quarterback Russell Shepard torched the Eagles for 341 rushing yards and five touchdown runs of 40 yards or more, Cy Ridge held previously unbeaten Strake Jesuit to 10 points through three quarters to open a 31-point lead and undoubtedly drop a few jaws in the District 17-5A game. The Eagles (4-2 overall, 2-1 district) intercepted Crusaders (5-1, 2-1) quarterback Jeff McVaney twice, forced two fumbles and laid countless huge hits to unleash a week’s worth of frustration. “They came out tonight and played the way we knew they could.

  The Clear Brook Wolverines hosted the Galveston Ball Golden Tornadoes in District 24-5A action on Thursday night, and Clear Brook let one slip right through its hands, literally.

{mosimage} Cypress Ridge quarterback Russell Shepard worked feverishly during the summer on improving his passing game, trying to round himself into even more of a complete quarterback despite receiving a handful of offers from large colleges after a sensational sophomore season.

        Broken wrist or not, Katy running back Aundre Dean returned with a vengeance Saturday night.   Dean rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns as Katy shut out crosstown rival Katy Taylor 48-0 in a District 18-5A match-up Saturday night.    Throughout the first quarter, Katy spread the ball to their receivers and running backs connecting on many occasions, yet it was not enough for a touchdown. Katy got close enough in the red zone to attempt a field goal but the kick was short.

          When two high-powered offenses like Cy Ridge (4-1, 2-0) and Cy Falls (3-2, 1-1) face off, many would expect plenty of big plays to happen on both sides.

      The MacArthur Generals gave their alumni a Homecoming game to remember with a 49-7 win over the Spring Woods Tigers on Saturday night at Thorne Stadium in a District 19-5A game.

        Rounding out the second week of district play, Cinco Ranch traveled to Crump Stadium and defeated Alief Taylor 20-9 in a District 18-5A game on Saturday night.

    On a night when nothing seemed to go right for the Jersey Village Falcons, Sam McGuffie and the Cy-Fair Bobcats could do no wrong.

    Nimitz defensive back Ray’Anthony Long felt he owed his team a big play after Memorial took the lead in the second half Saturday night at Tully Stadium.

  The 2-2 Baytown Lee Ganders encountered a fired up Baytown Sterling Rangers team Friday night in one of the area's longest standing football rivalries.

            District game two is in the books and LSU and Stanford were watching their future quarterbacks to see who would come out on top.

  It was a rainy start on Friday night at Leonard George Stadium where the Spring Lions (3-1) faced the Klein Oak Panthers (4-0).   After a thirty minute down pour, both teams took the field ready to play. Klein Oak ,with a perfect record, went up against a hungry Lions offense that didn’t get a chance to get their rhythm going in last week’s loss at Klein Memorial.

          The Elsik Rams had a big night against Morton Ranch as they improved their district record to 2-0 with a 34-27 win Friday night at Rhodes Stadium.

  On Homecoming night the Alief Hastings football team gave their fans exactly what they wanted, a victory.

        Praising his football team for its grace under pressure in the final minute Friday night, Strake Jesuit head coach Ron Counter simultaneously reminded the Crusaders they’d learned a valuable lesson.

  Photos courtesy of New Mexico State University    As Cinco Ranch coach Don Clayton and the Cougar football team gear up for Saturday night's District 18-5A match up against Alief Taylor, some good news came to the organization Friday morning regarding a Cougar alumnus. Former Cougar and current New Mexico State quarterback J.J.

  The South Houston Trojans football team seems to be getting better each week.

  We have all heard the statement, ‘Offense wins games, defense wins championships.’ That can be proven with a look at the No. 1 teams in District 17, 18, and 19-5A. When you break down the success that these three teams have had, it runs hand-in-hand with a top-rated defense.

      If the Strake Jesuit football team has to ride a “little team that could” moniker to a strong season in District 17-5A, so be it.   The Crusaders’ roster numbers only 41, considerably less than the likes of  district rivals Cy-Fair, Cy Falls and Cy Ridge.   But the Crusaders don’t think they’re executing brain science at the corner of Bellaire and Gessner.

          The Nimitz football team improved to 4-0 with a 32-0 win against Northbrook in the District 19-5A opener for both teams Saturday at Thorne Stadium.

    The Spring Lions received the ball first on the kick-off tonight in a battle against the Klein Bearkats at Klein Memorial field.

    After struggling to a 1-2 start this season, the Baytown Lee Ganders decided to call on the guy who led them to the playoffs a year ago, Octavio Torres. Torres got the start over Josh Jones at quarterback as coach Olin moved Jones to receiver this week and called on last years starter to get the Gander offense back on track.

          Katy running backs Trent Hunter and Seth Chism rushed for a combined 234 yards, in the absence of injured starter Aundre Dean, in a 38-0 win over Alief Taylor Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium.

          Saturday night was the first district game for both Eisenhower and Memorial as they faced each other at Tully Stadium. However, an hour before the 6 p.m.

        James Scott managed to keep his head clear through an entire week of preparing for a Cy-Fair offense that’s as deep as it is sound, so the Strake Jesuit defensive back wasn’t about to lose his place in the final minute of Saturday night’s District 17-5A opener at the Berry Center.