Katy football coach Gary Joseph has a team that is steadily moving up the national ranks, hasn’t been scored on in over a month and seems destined for state 6A title, yet he sees a team with a lot of room for improvement.
The Tigers (11-0) are prepared to take another step as they get set to meet 10-1 Cyrpess Ranch in the second round of the 6A Division II bracket playoffs on Friday night.
“I see a team that is getting better, that is not at its peak and can continue getting better,” said Joseph, whose team moved into the No. 6 spot in the USA Today national high school football poll. “I think the biggest thing we have to do is continue to play at a high level. I know we can play better because I know we can tackle better.
“We will have to do that as we go through this thing. It’s such a tough, unforgiving game. You get to this point and you can’t afford to have a bad game or you can’t afford to turn the ball over because everybody you are playing is good enough to beat you.”
The Cy Ranch Mustangs and quarterback Collin Rock are certainly capable. Their second-round matchup with Katy is the marquee game in the area because it pits two teams that made it to the 6A state finals – in different brackets – last season.
“It should be (a good game), they are a great football team,” Joseph said. “They are state finalists so we know they have a lot of pride and they have a real good football team.”
But the Mustangs will be facing a Katy team that is experienced and has a huge chip on its shoulder. A traditional state power that is accustomed to win state championships, the Tigers have come up short in the finals the last two years.
The mission this season is to not let it happen a third time.
The Tigers have five three-year starters on the roster, led by 6-foot-3 inside linebacker and Lombardi finalist Paddy Fisher. The offense has three three-year starters, including quarterback Garrett Doiron, wide receiver Tony Mullins and running back Kyle Porter. They are still smarting from last year’s state finals loss.
“Anytime you get there and lose, it’s tough,” Joseph said. “It’s tough losing anytime but when you get there ... you know how close you came and stuff. These kids have been there twice and lost.
”I don’t know if it’s motivation or the understanding that they want to be able to finally come out of this thing as the best team in this state.”
The Tigers have certainly played like the best team all season long, especially on defense. They’ve allowed just 18 points to be scored on them all season – even without Fisher who is returning this week after missing the last seven games because of injury.
Katy has shut out its last five opponents - outscoring them 296-0 - and has blanked a total of eight foes this season. The Tigers closest game this season was a 14-7 squeaker against The Woodlands earlier in the year.
Since then they have rolled over opponents. They are coming off a 77-0 win over Westside in last week’s first round of the playoffs in which freshman running back Deondrick Glass ran for four touchdowns.
“We’ve actually been pretty balanced on offense and defense this season,” Joseph said. “Our quarterback has really done a good job for us this year. The key for us this season has been the continued maturation of our offensive line. They’ve gotten better and better and they have to continue to get better.
“We went through a couple of broken hands and stuff during the year and bounced back from these. Now we have everybody healthy and they have to continue to playing a high level and even get better as we go through this thing.”
Joseph believes the best is yet to come for these Tigers and it all starts Friday night.
“I feel like we are still getting better,” he said. “I still don’t feel like we have peaked by any stretch of the imagination. We’ve had some injuries we’ve gone through and some things.
“We’re playing well and I expect us to play well. I know that we can get better. We are looking forward to the challenge.”
