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Katy High junior quarterback Caleb Koger had a career-best 331 passing yards and a career-tying-best five touchdowns in the Tigers' 56-21 win over Tompkins on Friday at Legacy Stadium.
Led by QB Koger, Katy earns 'personal' win over rival Tompkins
KATY — Though Katy's football players would like to say that Friday's District 19-6A showdown against heated rival Tompkins was just another game, it wasn't.
Senior linebacker Ty Kana said as much to teammates during a pregame huddle led by the captains. So did senior defensive back Hamilton McMartin.
After Tompkins' 24-19 win last year snapped the Tigers' 12-year reign as district champions, Katy had Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, circled on its calendar ever since. And though the Tigers went on to win the Class 6A, Division II state championship last season, the Tompkins loss—the lone blemish on their 2020 record—haunted them.
It lingered.
"Y'all remember last year!" McMartin yelled. "We're not going through that again!"
"We've been waiting the whole year for this!" senior linebacker Carson Marshall bellowed.
"It is personal!" Kana emphasized.
And then the Tigers went out and played like it.
Katy led from start to finish, hardly threatened the entire way, in a demonstrative 56-21 rout of Tompkins at Legacy Stadium. The Tigers improved to 6-0 overall, 2-0 in District 19-6A, and reasserted themselves as the city's finest. The Falcons lost their first game of the season, falling to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in district.
"We wanted it bad," senior receiver Antonio Silva said. "We took it personal, and we came out and took the 'W.'"
Katy is back on top of 19-6A. And while the usual suspects—a dominant running game and unrelenting defense—played significant roles in the win, it was a surprisingly prolific passing game, masterfully directed by junior quarterback Caleb Koger, that torched a playmaking Falcons secondary.
Koger completed 14 of 17 passes for 331 yards and five touchdowns, finishing one TD short of the program's single-game record held by Brooks Haack. The 331 yards were a career-best and the five touchdowns tied a career-high.
Koger entered the game averaging 126 passing yards per game with nine touchdowns to five interceptions in five games. It was an inauspicious start, at best, to the season.
Against Tompkins, however, Koger showed once more why he is a state championship quarterback. At one point, he completed 10 consecutive passes while throwing touchdowns to three different receivers.
"Having a big game like this, and a year of experience under my belt, it's all big," Koger said. "It all helps. I've improved, but really, my line has improved big-time. People have stepped up. They've been able to give us big holes in the run game, and then we get guys wide open in the passing game."
Junior running back Seth Davis was his typical big-play self with 205 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. But while Tompkins' defense focused on him, Koger made it pay.
The primary beneficiaries were senior receivers Nic Anderson (six catches, 128 yards, two TDs) and Antonio Silva (five catches, 143 yards, TD).
"It's just the connection that's building between the receivers and quarterback," Silva said. "It's getting better and better each week. The more we work on it, the better we get."
Koger's favorite play is the bootleg play-action, and he showed why, often finding Silva or Anderson for wide open catches because of his ability to sell the fake handoff to the deadly Davis.
"There's a big difference from last year to this year for him," Silva said of Koger. "He got a lot of pressure tonight, and I feel like he did well. He really took care of the ball."
For only the second time this season, Katy's offense did not have a turnover. During one point of the game, it scored on seven of eight drives. The Tigers totaled 635 yards, 364 through the air.
"Caleb got a lot of blame for interceptions and stuff, and I said then how it's not just on the quarterback," coach Gary Joseph said. "We had good protection and I was proud of our play-action kids. Our kids did a great job faking and did a good job getting open, catching the football, and making some tough catches. As an offense, you don't want to be one-dimensional. Everyone knows we want to run the football, and they'll load the box to stop the run. It opens up things.
"Hopefully, he continues getting better. It was a stepping stone."
Though 5-0 coming into the game, the Tigers had not played consistently well. Turnovers and injuries plagued them through the early portion of the season.
But Friday's win was excitedly welcomed, not just because of the win but for how they won.
"From the very beginning, I told them that they had to learn to trust and love each other," Joseph said. "You can see, after we scored, how excited they were. They were excited for each other. You can finally feel the chemistry building, and that's what's the most exciting thing to me. Hopefully, we can build on this."
EXTRA POINTS
>> TAKEAWAYS! Katy had two takeaways against Tompkins, which was an "awesome" sight for Joseph as the Tigers have had a hard time generating them so far this season. Junior defensive back Arian Parish, who had an interception in the first half that the Tigers later capitalized on with a touchdown, said the defense was simply ready. "We've been waiting for this game for a long time," Parish said. "We came out strong this week. Every day was a good day. It was all fundamentals, nothing different. I trust my guys. I trust the guy in front of me, the guy behind me. We executed. If you know what your job is and the guy next to you knows what his job is, the game slows down."
>> NIC'S BACK: Having only played in two of the team's first five games because of injury, Anderson looked healthy against Tompkins and had an electric performance with touchdown catches of 45 and 53, yards, respectively. They were his first touchdowns of the season. "He's such a good playmaker," Koger said. "A big dude, 6-4, fast. He's everything I want in a receiver. He's just awesome."
>> McMILLAN STARS: Tompkins senior receiver Joshua McMillan II had a fantastic game against the Tigers. He was responsible for all three Falcons touchdowns—two receiving (49 yards, 30 yards) and a SportsCenter-worthy 108-yard kick return late in the first half for a score. In all, McMillan, an HBU commit, had four catches for 95 yards.
Katy High senior receiver Ronnie Schneider makes a run after a catch during the Tigers' season-opening win over Clear Springs on Friday at Legacy Stadium.
'Rec Squad' wreaks havoc for Katy in season-opening win
Katy High's receiving corps calls itself the 'Rec Squad.'
"We take pride in that," senior Ronnie Schneider said. "We catch the ball, any 50-50 ball. We run great routes. We can block. We're the entire package. We have guys that it doesn't matter if we're covered, we'll make the play."
The Tigers' receivers showed a lot of promise and potential during the summer and fall camp. Coach Gary Joseph sung their praises heading into Friday's season-opener. And then the perimeter patrons went out and vindicated the optimism in Katy's 40-7 win over Clear Springs at Legacy Stadium.
Junior quarterback Caleb Koger completed 11 of 16 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown and connected with six different receivers in a little more than two quarters of work. Two receivers—Schneider and junior JR Ceyanes—each had three catches.
Katy averaged 128.8 receiving yards per game last year, and bested that number considerably in game one, even with No. 1 receiver and Oregon commit Nic Anderson not at full strength as he recovers from a summer injury, as the 'Rec Squad' wreaked havoc.
"They are awesome," Koger said. "I have four guys that I feel confident throwing the ball to, and I know they'll catch every single ball I throw. If I mess up on a ball, I know they can make a play on it. They're so consistent, so talented, so well-coached."
Schneider led the way with 66 yards and a touchdown on three catches. Anderson had 33 yards on two catches in limited time. Senior Antonio Silva had 26 yards and a touchdown on two catches. Ceyanes had 23 yards on three catches. Sophomore Luke Carter had a catch for 18 yards, and senior Isaiah Smith had a catch for 11 yards.
"When we get Nic 100 percent healthy, it's going to be a really dynamic core," Joseph said. "Silva, Schneider, JR Ceyanes, Nic. We have people who can catch. The fullback (Isaiah Smith) can catch the ball well. We just have to give the quarterback a chance."
Koger got plenty of chances against Clear Springs. The offensive line of Jace Butler, Jacob Egg, Dylan Erickson, Caleb Webb and Isaiah Ybarra gave him plenty of time in the pocket.
Koger averaged 10.2 yards per pass attempt and took advantage of a Clear Springs defense that was cognizant of the Tigers' typically potent run game. That was for good reason, with junior Seth Davis going for 149 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries and sophomore Chase Johnsey totaling 88 yards on 12 carries.
But with Koger picking apart the Chargers' soft secondary, it made for a nightmare scenario for Clear Springs.
"The running backs feed off us and we feed off them," Schneider said.
"It's tough defending the run and the pass, and somebody is going to have to give up something," Joseph said. "I understand we're going to get into a lot of man-to-man situations, and I think they're good enough to win them. That will help us down the road."
The athletic 5-foot-9, 165-pound Schneider has been an inspiring story for the Tigers. He started his varsity career as a defensive back and was primarily a returner last season.
But with persistent hard work in Katy's strength and conditioning camps, Schneider has turned himself into a valuable top receiver, one who's able to take some of the pressure off Anderson.
Because of guys like Schneider, Joseph is confident the passing game will be much improved this year, which is saying something since the Tigers won a state championship last year, their ninth.
"I think they'll be better," Joseph said of this year's receivers compared to last year's. "I know they will."
EXTRA POINTS
>> PROBLEMATIC: Katy's season-opening win did not come without concerns. The Tigers fumbled three times, losing two, and committed nine penalties for 65 yards. "It was a lot of first-game stuff," Joseph said. "Turning the ball over, pre-snap penalties. Cramping. All stuff that we've got to take care of before we play again. Ball security is a big thing, and our kids know better. I haven't lost confidence in any of our kids. We'll have to execute better in practice."
>> ALL IN: Joseph loved that everyone got to play against Clear Springs. Katy led 19-0 at halftime, and Joseph went to his backups with seven-plus minutes left in the third quarter, holding a 26-0 lead. "All of them got to play, which helps the chemistry of a football team and getting all those kids in," Joseph said. "It's a super deal. I'm proud of our (starters) giving them the opportunity to play. Even the (third-string) and (fourth-string) got to play, and that's what a team is. Being unselfish enough to get those kids a chance to play, and I'm very thankful for that." Joseph said quality backups, and consistent reps for those backups, create depth. "We've never won any type of championship with 22 kids," Joseph said. "We've always had injuries; we had injuries last year. We're going to have to develop depth, so getting those kids those kinds of reps is important."
>> FIRST OF MANY: Carter, the sophomore tight end, got his first varsity catch late in the first half on an 18-yard haul from Koger. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Carter impressed enough to win the starting role after projected starter Michael Dante suffered an injury during the summer. Carter is the son of Katy ISD assistant athletic director Lance Carter.