BETWEEN THE LINES: Klein Cain has program-changing TEAM win

A game is just a game, right?

Especially a Thursday night cold, rain-soaked game with only the band, dance teams, parents and some die-hard students in the stands.

Just the last regular season game of the year in the Klein area.

This game was different. And I need to remind you, anything can happen on the KUBE 57's Thursday Night Game of the Week with Todd Freed and Matt Malatesta.

Let me set the scene.

1. Klein Oak was going for its first district title since 2008. A win would also make the Panthers the district's No. 1 DII seed. A loss would push Klein Oak into the DI bracket. Ughhhh.

2. Klein Cain and coach James Clancy were aiming for another first… The 'Canes beat Klein and The Woodlands this year, both firsts. But this game would be a program-changer – a win would get Cain its first ever playoff berth in its second year of varsity play.

3. Throw in the fact that one of the city's leading rushers Jaydon Blue (1,500 yards) would NOT be available, according to Clancy.

With that being said, some might think that Cain had no shot facing the established Panthers.

So, what happened?

I've never seen a game so effected by the wind. With it blowing 20-plus miles per hour, neither team would score going into the biting wind coming from the NORTH. Weird, right?

Wind aside, what I've also learned is that football is a TEAM sport.

Earlier in the season, we had the Travis-Ridge Point game on the KUBE. Travis had NEVER beaten Ridge Point, ever. Ridge Point had gone undefeated in district play for four years.

Travis would be without superstar WR Parker Washington (Penn State-commit), who was held out by his coach due to several unsportsmanlike conduct penalties the week before.

No way Travis could overcome that, right? Wrong. A charged up Travis squad came out motivated as a TEAM and beat their rival Ridge Point. They would go on to win district due to this pivotal game.

But back to the Klein Cain vs Klein Oak game…