NRG Stadium will have a lot of Houston flavor during this weekend’s state championship round and that isn’t just because of where the venue is located.
The area teams pushed through to the state finals with Katy, North Shore and George Ranch all having a chance to bring home titles at home.
The Katy Tigers, the No.1 team in the state, will be making their fourth straight state finals appearance when they take on Lake Travis in the 6A Division II championship on Saturday night. Both teams enter 15-0.
The North Shore Mustangs, who had three straight losses and began the season 1-3, will meet Austin Westlake in the 6A Division I game on Saturday. And on Friday night undefeated George Ranch is set to clash with Lake Ridge in the 5A Division I state championship game.
Many thought the Tigers might come up short in their shot to win their eighth state title when they met experienced Cibolo Steele during Saturday’s state semifinals at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio. Clearly, Katy’s defense had other plans.
Perhaps making its most convincing case for being Katy’s all-time best defense, the Tigers stifled Steele’s high-octane offense, winning 38-0. It is the Tigers’ 10th shutout this season and their third during the playoffs.
The Mustangs, meanwhile, are the biggest surprise in the state-championship round. Nobody expected North Shore to end up here after dropping three straight to the likes of Westfield, Manvel and Euless Trinity earlier in the season. But the Mustangs are here by taking a gritty and sometimes sloppy 23-17 win over Converse Judson in the state semifinals.
North Shore has now won 11 straight games and boasts a 12-3 record going into Saturday’s title game.
The Longhorns have a chance to get the city off to a good start during Friday night’s clash with Lake Ridge. George Ranch and its ground attack dominated Vista Ridge, 42-23, on Saturday.
The Longhorns did it with a relentless ground attack led by running backs Darius Anderson and Alex Fontenot. Anderson ran for 277 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries while Fontenot added 162 yards and one touchdown on 16 rushing attempts.
Quarterback Antonio Jackson was highly efficient, completing 6 of 8 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns to propel the program that hadn’t made it past regional finals during its four previous seasons as a varsity program.