The people of Katy were out in full force Friday night supporting their Tigers. The red wearing crowd showed up at Rhodes hoping to see another shutout, but instead saw the opponent hanging in with the Tigers. Although Katy got a 24-13 win, Hastings gave them a run for their money.

“We expected to come out and blow them out, give our crowd something to look at,” Katy quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell said.

On Katy’s second play of their first possession, Mitchell threw a 33-yard pass to wide receiver Brian Rowe. Rowe reached out with one hand, caught the ball, and fell into the end zone only two minutes into the game.

The Bears were making way down field as quarterback Jhvaughn Forde found Jared Davis at the Tiger 16 line. But Hastings was stuffed on three downs, then missed a field-goal attempt.

Hastings started the second quarter on its own 15. Forde threw a long pass to running back Saheed Imoru for 70-yards. On fourth-and-12, the Bears attempted the field goal again, but remained scoreless.

Near the end of the first half, Katy held possession for over three minutes as they made four first downs, putting them on the Bears’ 2. Quarterback Mitchell ran it in for the Tigers’ second touchdown.

Hastings followed Katy’s pattern as they too made four first downs, putting them in field goal range, just seconds before halftime. But they didn’t score.

At the half, Katy led 14-0. Hastings’ quick defense was making great plays on Katy’s offense, holding them to only two touchdowns.

“They have some good athletes, good football players, and they got after us,” Katy coach Gary Joseph said.

Katy had the ball to start the third quarter. On its own 32, Mitchell threw an interception to Hastings’ Jeremiah Coffman. It was a big play for the Bears as they worked from their own 25 to Katy’s 40. With 8:35 left in the third, Forde connected with Imoru for a 39-yard pass, good for the touchdown. With the extra point good, Katy 14, Hastings 7.

“They made some plays and we didn’t. They did a good job. They ran a couple things that we hadn’t really worked on and that hurt us a little bit,” said Joseph.

Katy answered with a 37-yard field goal from Raul Balbuena to give them a ten point lead, 17-7.

Hastings was still in it in the fourth. They started on the 20. After five first downs, at the 2 yard line, Imoru ran for the end zone, getting the six points. The kick after was no good, keeping Hastings trailing, 17-13, with 3:25 left in the game.

On the touchdown play, Katy’s #96, Sean Alexander, was injured. He had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. The players knelt and the stadium was silent. As he was wheeled off, Alexander raised his arm as a sign of reassurance. After the game, there was no report of his condition.
And in true Katy fashion, with less than two minutes left in the game, Mitchell connected with Rowe one more time, bringing the Tigers just three yards from the goal line. Mitchell ran in the touchdown and Balbuena kicked the extra point, putting the Tigers on top, 24-13.

The Katy Tigers, who shutout their last two opponents and scored a combined 86 points, saw tough competition in Hastings and possibly had a wake up call.

“All throughout practice our coaches were saying we’re playing weak and practicing weak and we’ve got to pick it up. And it absolutely proved it. It was a big wake up call,” Mitchell said.

“We didn’t expect the game to turn out like this. We talked about adversity and think this will make us stronger,” Katy wide receiver Brian Rowe said.

The Tigers will face Morton Ranch next week.

“We’re going to go back to work on Monday. It’ll be a little easier getting our attention. The biggest thing is, our kids don’t need to drop their heads, they won the ball game and that’s the most important thing," Joseph said. "Lesson learned."

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