Katy
gives Jesuit a warm UIL welcome
By Greg
Arbogast
Magis staff writer
Ever since Jesuit’s induction into the UIL, the football
team has been hearing about their first-ever UIL game against
Katy. As the game drew nearer, the high school football world
made it clear that they felt that Jesuit had no chance.
“The pre-game press we’ve been getting has only
made us more pumped,” said senior defensive back Ben
Dolan. “We feel like we’re getting no respect.”
This lack of respect was obvious as the pre-game spread was
Katy by thirty-seven points. THIRTY-SEVEN POINTS!
Unfortunately, Jesuit’s critics weren’t lying
about the defending champion Katy Tigers.
It was a combination of bad breaks and simply facing a superior
team that was Jesuit’s undoing on Friday night.
Katy looked every bit the defending state champions as they
dominated Jesuit on both sides of the ball. The domination
was most evident on the offensive and defensive lines. The
rushing yards pretty much tell the story of Friday night’s
game. The Tigers fed Jesuit a steady diet of James Aston as
he ran for 133 yards on 17 carries.
It wasn’t just the number of rushing yards Katy had
but when they got them. Katy was able to run all night on
first and second down for positive yardage, rarely ever putting
themselves in obvious passing situations.
Jesuit was a different story, as the offensive line failed
to open holes for Anner Jimenez and Grant Jefferson to sprint
through. Unlike Katy, Jesuit was never able to run the ball
successfully on first or second down and was forced into third
and long situations the entire night.
Obvious passing situations coupled with a brisk wind made
throwing extremely difficult. The wind was definitely a factor
as a sure touchdown pass to Stephen Tyree floated in the air
just long enough for the wind to blow it beyond his fingertips.
Give the offensive line credit here as they often gave Bandy
time to throw. But it’s awfully difficult to convert
third and ten when Katy is dropping three or more defensive
backs.
To be fair to Jesuit, not a whole lot went their way on Friday
night. A Tim Bandy fumble bounced right into the arms of an
awaiting Katy defender, who sprinted for a touchdown. Justin
Moore nearly intercepted a pass, which he likely would have
returned for a touchdown. A fourth down conversion was nullified
by a fourth down fumble rule. To top it all off, Jesuit was
only given three downs to attempt to convert a first down
on their last drive of the first half. A few of these plays
going Jesuit’s way could have made for a very different
game.
On the bright side, however, it’s not every game that
you play the defending state champions, and it’s not
every game that you face a runner the quality of James Aston.
Despite the score, Jesuit certainly proved they have enough
talent to be competitive with a lot of teams in this district.
And there were some good things that came out of Jesuit’s
first UIL game. They scored the last points of the game, and
just for the record, they covered the spread.
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