{mp3}Road to State teaser{/mp3}    The Katy Tigers are celebrating the program's fifth state championship, and now you can own a piece of history by ordering The Athlete's Connection's Katy Perfect Season DVD.   The Katy Perfect Season DVD is a highlight reel of the Tigers' season, which began with a convincing victory against Klein and saw the team march in often-dominating fashion to a 28-7 win against Pflugerville in the 5A-Division II state championship game at the Alamodome.   What some area pundits are calling the best Katy team ever finished 16-0 and reached the state finals for the ninth time in school history and eighth time since 1994.   The Tigers also won state championships in 1959, 1997, 2000 and 2003.

  After a 28-7 win over Pflugerville in the Division II state championship game in San Antonio during the Christmas weekend, I’m pretty sure the Katy’s championship banner is being updated right now as we speak.

{mp3}All-American Bowl teaser 20071227{/mp3} Bob Jones sat in his office six days before Christmas, looked at his dry eraser board and wondered if he'd devised too many plays. Then the Aldine football coach, selected as West Team head coach for the U.S.

      Interviews    SAN ANTONIO - It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Katy Tigers showed the world what the Katy Fever was all about.

Photos courtesy of the University of Utah Athletic Department  With Baytown Lee graduate Brian Johnson leading the way, Utah defeated Navy 35-32 in the Poinsettia Bowl last Thursday night, extending the Utes' bowl winning streak to seven. Johnson, a sophomore, had one of the best games of his career as he passed for 226 yards on 20 of 25 passing.

{mp3}All-American Bowl teaser 20071227{/mp3}          With the 2008 U.S.

The Alamodome is one of many places the Katy Tigers football team can call home, thanks to its tremendous success the past two decades. When the 15-0 Tigers take the field Saturday night for the 5A-Division II championship game against Pflugerville, they’ll be making their ninth appearance in a state final and will be seeking their fifth championship. Such experiences don’t faze Katy, which won its last title in 2003 and lost the 2005 final to Southlake Carroll. “This year I’m a little more used to so it (last week’s semifinal against San Antonio Madison) was just another game to me.

Bo Levi Mitchell stays calm when Katy’s opponents pressure the Tigers to pass instead of run. A year ago, that might not have been the case for Katy’s now-senior quarterback. But a deep stable of talent, including five dependable receivers and Division I-bound running back Aundre Dean, has that effect on Mitchell, who will quarterback the Tigers (15-0) in the 5A-Division II state championship game against Pflugerville (12-3) Saturday night at the Alamodome. No longer is he the self-proclaimed “gunslinger” of a year ago. Efficient best describes Mitchell, who averages more 18 yards per completion and has 34 touchdowns to a scant four interceptions. The senior, who verbally committed to Hawaii Monday night, credits quarterback coach Pat Dowling for his emergence. “That’s something he’s really impressed on me,” Mitchell said.

  Team concept and focus were the primary ingredients for the 2007 Lamar Consolidated football team. The Mustangs finished the year with a 13-2 record ending with a 20-14 win over Copperas Cove in the 4A-Division I state championship game Saturday night in Austin.   Lamar Consolidated coach Lydell Wilson felt like he may have had a few more athletes on the team last year, but this team brought something to the table. “From last year’s team, we lost a lot of Division I athletes and you can’t replace those guys,” Wilson said.

Saturday's 5A-Division II state championship game between Katy and Pflugerville will air in the Houston market on KNWS-TV (Channel 51).   The game will be seen throughout the rest of the region on FSN Southwest, but was bumped to Channel 51 locally because of a conflict with the Rockets-Chicago Bulls NBA game.   Satellite viewers can still see the game on FSN Southwest's primary channel, 643 on DirecTV and 416 on DISH Network.

  Outstanding seasons usually are the result of outstanding players and in the case of Prairie View A&M that is certainly no exception. Panthers linebacker Zack East, a Yates graduate, recently was named Southwestern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year after making 127 tackles during the Panthers' most successful season in recent memory. Prairie View finished 7-3, their best record in more than four decades. “I really didn’t expect it to be that big of a thing, but it seems to be,” East said.

{mp3}Coaches show VO 20071218{/mp3}         Tuesday night’s Katy ISD Playoff Preview Coaches Show was about more than football.   Looking ahead to Saturday’s 5A-Division II state championship game, seemingly everyone from Tigers coach Gary Joseph to several players’ mothers turned out at Texas Tradition for the sixth episode of the Athlete’s Connection's weekly preview show.   Joseph and players Brad Graham (linebacker) and Markham Stayton (tight end) recapped the Tigers’ 66-21 dismantling of San Antonio Madison in the state semifinal and looked ahead to Saturday’s matchup with Pflugerville (12-3) at the Alamodome.

    “The tradition of Rocket pride” was the theme of Saturday’s 5A Division I semifinal match up at Rice Stadium, according to Converse Judson coach Jim Rackley.

    {mp3}Coaches show VO 20071215{/mp3}      SAN ANTONIO - Like 14 opponents before them this season, San Antonio Madison on Saturday seemed bound and determined not to let Katy's run game decide their 5A-Division II state semifinal meeting at the Alamodome.

  Quarterbacks earned the highest player honors in both the 17-5A and 19-5A all-district football teams released recently.

Bret Boyd was chosen as campus coordinator and head football coach for Goose Creek Memorial High School during the Monday meeting of the Goose Creek CISD Board of Trustees. Goose Creek Memorial, the district’s third high school, will open as a 4-A high school in August 2008.   Boyd has been athletic coordinator and head football coach at Ellison High School in Killeen since 2001.

Maybe making their first 11 opponents believe Katy’s defense didn’t feel it was playing as a team is an unenviable task, but the Tigers clearly saw their flaws two weeks ago. Time and again in the first half of Katy’s 5A-Division II Region III semifinal against Pasadena Memorial, the Mavericks dashed through considerable holes in the Tigers’ defense for big gains.

    Katy football coach Gary Joseph and three players joined The Athlete’s Connection Tuesday night for the fifth Katy ISD Playoff Preview Coaches Show at Texas Tradition. Fans, players, parents and more watched the Tigers (13-0) recap Saturday’s 42-0 rout of previously unbeaten Fort Bend Clements in the 5A-Division II Region III final and look ahead to Saturday afternoon’s state semifinal meeting with San Antonio Madison at the Alamodome. Players present were quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, defensive back Trent Hunter and offensive lineman Eric Ball.

Previews of this weekend’s 5A state semifinal games, with picks from staff writers Dave Purpura and Ahmard Vital:   DIVISION I North Shore (14-0) vs.

The North Shore Mustangs cannot be stopped. The Mustangs extended their record to 14-0 with a second-half performance that stopped Fort Bend Hightower in its tracks Saturday afternoon.

With two undefeated teams facing off in the playoffs, many would have expected nothing less than an all-out, competitive dogfight.

      North Shore extended their 14-0 overall record Saturday afternoon, where they took on the Hurricanes from Hightower.

    Dayton and Waller squared off Friday night with a trip to the 4A state semifinals and the Class 4A Division II Region III title on the line.

          Trent Hunter of Katy, DeSean Hales of Klein Oak, and Clements coach Jeff Hulme earned top honors Wednesday night at the CEP Sorbents High School Awards Dinner at the JW Marriott hosted by Touchdown Club of Houston.   The Touchdown Club selected eight offensive, defensive, and coach finalists for its 28th Annual High School Awards Dinner.

  A look at this weekend’s football playoff games, with picks from staff writers Dave Purpura and Ahmard Vital: 5A-DIVISION II STATE QUARTERFINAL Katy (13-0) vs.

  The North Shore Mustangs are in the regional finals, a place they haven’t been since 2003, when they went on to win their only state championship.

Chris Lenoir’s two third-quarter touchdown runs gave Fort Bend Clements sorely needed insurance points in Saturday’s 5A-Region III Division II semifinal against Stratford. {mosimage} No one knew at the time those would be the game-winning points, but it wasn’t a surprise they came from Lenoir, whom his coach called the Rangers’ “workhorse.” Lenoir rushed for 225 yards on 34 carries in a 31-27 victory.

          Katy football coach Gary Joseph and several players joined The Athlete’s Connection Tuesday night for the fourth Katy ISD Playoff Preview Coaches Show at Texas Tradition. Several supporters turned out to watch the Tigers (13-0) recap Saturday’s thrilling 30-14 win against Pasadena Memorial and look ahead to Saturday night’s state quarterfinal meeting with undefeated Fort Bend Clements at Rice Stadium.

              The Fort Bend Clements Rangers and the Stratford Spartans exchanged touchdown for touchdown for much of a 5A-Region III Division II quarterfinal, but the Rangers held onto possession at the end of the game to seal a 31-27 victory at Galena Park.

      Hightower kicker Jake Kane had kicked only two field goals this season entering Saturday.   Chances are he won't forget the third.   The sophomore connected on a 50-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Hurricanes to a 24-21 victory against Cypress Ridge in a 5A-Region III Division I semifinal at the Berry Center.

            Even with its passing game staking it to a nine-point lead in the third quarter Saturday, the throng of Katy fans at Rice Stadium held its breath waiting for a game-breaking play. They hadn’t seen an explosive run from Aundre Dean yet, but once they did the Tigers finally seemed to feel secure. Held in check by Pasadena Memorial for much of a 5A-Region III Division II semifinal, Dean busted a 42-yard touchdown run midway through the third to cement a 30-14 win. His longest run to that point was 10 yards. “It felt good,” said Dean, who finished with 139 yards and two scores on 26 carries.

  Deer Park’s Abshire Stadium was the site for Waller's 42-14 win against Lumberton in a 4A-Region III semifinal Friday night.    Waller will play Dayton in a state quarterfinal at 7:30 p.m.

               As if holding Cy-Fair running back Sam McGuffie to one of the lowest rushing totals of his career and scoring on each of its first-half possessions wasn't enough to show North Shore's dominance Friday night, the Mustangs offense decided to double as a good defense. North Shore scored two touchdowns in the final 2 minutes, 36 seconds of the first half, then held the ball for 14 of the first 16 minutes of the second half and opened a four-touchdown lead en route to a 45-31 win in a 5A-Region III Division I regional semifinal at the Berry Center. Mustangs quarterback Jeremiah McGinty passed for two touchdowns, ran for a third and burned the Bobcats time and again on a zone-read option that was nearly impossible to detect, let alone defend. He threw two touchdowns to Excelle Osborne, the first ending the first half and the second capping a workmanlike six-and-a-half-minute drive out of halftime. "We haven't had those kinds of drives but we knew if we kept their offense off the field we'd be in pretty good shape," said McGinty, who rushed for 172 yards on 17 carries and threw for another 94 yards.

  Five Houston-area players received top Big 12 Conference Honors for their performance this season on the gridiron.

A look at this weekend’s football playoff games, with picks from staff writers Dave Purpura and Ahmard Vital:   5A-Division I regional semifinals North Shore (12-0) at Cy-Fair (8-4) 7:30 p.m.

      Carrying the torch for the Katy ISD, Katy football coach Gary Joseph and three players joined The Athlete’s Connection Tuesday night for the third Katy ISD Playoff Preview Coaches Show.

  Trent Hunter calls himself a defensive back first, and that’s why the Katy senior has committed to play football at Kansas State. But to think of Hunter only as a defender is to short-change everything else he contributes to the undefeated Tigers, coach Gary Joseph said. Not only is Hunter the Tigers’ second-leading tackler, he also is on the punt and kickoff return teams and calls punt coverages. “He’s very involved and you have to have players like that if you’re gonna be a good football team,” Joseph said.

          The wet and windy 40-degree weather did not slow down the Stratford Spartans and the Cypress Falls Eagles Saturday night at the Berry Center.

    Even though the weather was not too favorable, it was not enough to keep the Houston Christian football team from advancing past Victoria St.

                 With hardly a defensive player in place as the fourth quarter ended Saturday, Cypress Ridge scrambled into enough of an alignment to prolong its season.   Rams defensive end Robert Scarpati tackled Eisenhower quarterback Kenneth Guiton inside the 1-yard line as time ran out, securing Cy Ridge a wild 35-28 victory in a Division I 5A-Region III second-round game before a thoroughly chilled crowd at the Berry Center.   Cy Ridge (11-1), which controlled the first half and pulled ahead 35-21 in the fourth, suddenly found itself on its heels with 90 seconds left when Eisenhower got the ball on downs at its own 37.

  The Katy Tigers moved on to the Regional Quarterfinals with a 42-8 win over Madison Saturday in the area round of the Division II 5A-Region III playoffs.

        Hightower and Humble found themselves locked in a defensive battle Friday afternoon with Hightower coming out with a 14-13 win in a 5A-Region III playoff game at Pearland.

                Cy-Fair prides itself as a run-oriented football team – and rightly so – but it can credit Friday night’s playoff victory against Lamar to all three phases of the game.   A rushing touchdown, a field goal and a defensive touchdown gave the Bobcats control at halftime, then a Sam McGuffie touchdown in the fourth quarter sealed a 34-22 second-round win in 5A-Region III at the Berry Center.   McGuffie rushed for 202 yards and his late 4-yard score, but Cy-Fair roared into control earlier with a 17-point second quarter capped by Austin Wozniak’s 15-yard interception return for a touchdown.

          Pasadena Memorial stuck with its potent ground game Friday night and defeated Brazoswood 28-17 in the second round of the 5A-Region III playoffs.

              North Shore’s 17-point first half proved to be the difference as the Mustangs defeated Pearland 24-20 in a 5A-Region III Division I area playoff game Friday night at Deer Park Abshire Stadium.

            The Concordia Lutheran Crusaders defeated the Second Baptist Eagles 28-19 in the TAPPS Division II 5A regional final Friday night at Rhodes Stadium.

A look at this weekend’s area 5A football playoff games, with picks from staff writers Dave Purpura and Ahmard Vital: DIVISION I Lamar (10-1) vs.

      Carrying the torch for the Katy ISD, Katy football coach Gary Joseph and several players joined The Athlete’s Connection Tuesday night for the second Katy ISD Playoff Preview Coaches Show. The Tigers discussed Saturday’s second-round game with Madison.

         One to speak with his actions more than his words, Cypress Falls wide receiver Darius Bolden didn't spend much time dissecting his four-touchdown performance Saturday night.

               In each of the past two years the Madison Marlins have been knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.