The Cooldown: Week 5
Just like that, we’re halfway through the 2022 regular season. Time is flying! After last week, it looks like Katy ISD is ready to take the torch from 15-6A as the wildest district in the Houstin area. Check out our full recap, POTW and what to look forward to!
Cy-Fair out-lasts Stratford for an impressive win
After several explosive offensive outputs en route to a 3-0 start, Startford was a trendy pick to win district 17-6A, along with Jersey Village and Cy-Fair, who might have put an end to that talk last week.
Cy-Fair dominated the second quarter, out-scoring Stratford 31-7 en route to a 43-31 win. Trey Owens slung it all over the yard, completing 31-of-48 passes for 333 yards and five touchdowns against two picks. Zaccheas Baynes paced the Bobcats on the ground, running for 85 yards and aa score. Owen Carter led the way for the receiving corps with 10 catches for 133 yards and two scores; Connor Porter, Cooper Stevens and Baynes caught a touchdown apiece.
Nash Rankin has been the do-it-all quarterback for Stratford all season, and it may have caught up to him a little bit. He still posted eye popping numbers with 247 yards and two touchdowns through the air and another 42 yards and a score on the ground, but the fantastic senior also threw two INTs and finished 16-of-36.
Stratford is still a really good team, but the district title race could come down to Cy-Fair and Jersey Village with the Spartans already in an early hole at 0-1 in district play. Personally, I’m always hoping for max chaos so a three-way tie for first would be cool to me.
Stratford closes the season with Jersey Village (tasty!!) while Cy-Fair faces the Falcons next week with a chance to take a commanding stranglehold on first place in the district. Stratford gets Cy Creek next.
Dekaney takes down Eisenhower
Before we get to the game recap… is Eisenhower is one of the most interesting 0-4 teams I’ve seen. I know that sounds bad, but… the Eagles played Morton Ranch close – and the Mavs have looked great this year – as well as Tomball Memorial. They’ve got some good losses on the resume. They have a good shot to get back on track against Nimitz and MacArthur in the next two weeks. All this to say… is Dekaney better than we might have thought?
The Wildcats had no trouble putting Eisenhower away, 35-7, behind a strong twin performance, and by twin I mean brothers. Rechuuk Hines threw for 215 yards, a touchdown and an INT on 20-of-35 while adding 45 yards and a score on the ground. His brother, Tanook Hines, caught eight of those passes for a team high 92 yards and a touchdown.
With Spring struggling, Dekaney has a chance to take second in the district and Eisenhower may have a shot to sneak into the playoffs. Of course, Westfield will continue to be the class of the district, but the back end of the playoff race in 14-6A should be interesting down the stretch.
Klein Cain pours on the points
For the third straight week, Klein Cain topped 40 points in a 49-20 win against Tomball Memorial. A district typically rife with intrigue, Cain and Klein Collins look to be the class of the district.
Quarterback Lance Awe completed just four of his 10 passes for 82 yards, one touchdown and one INT, but he also added 152 yards and two scores on nine carries. Adeyemi Adeleke topped that performance with a dominant 180 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.
For Tomball Memorial, quarterback Reed Odell was just as versatile. He finished with 254 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-28 passing and tacked on 94 yards and two rushing touchdowns as well. Chase Lovick was the leading receiver with 96 yards on four catches.
Tomball Memorial looks to get back on track next week at home against a dynamic Klein Forest squad. Cain gets Klein and will have a potential district title showdown against Collins on October 21. Klein Forest looks like a potential playoff team, so Memorial will fight with rival Tomball, Klein Oak and Klein for the potential final playoff spot.
News and Notes
In this section each week, I’ll do some bullet points to highlight the other games that caught my eye this week but didn’t have time to discuss in full detail like the games above.
- Morton Ranch won an offensive slugfest against Cinco Ranch, 77-63, to shake up 19-6A
- Shadow Creek pulled off a fourth quarter rally to beat Pearland, 24-20
- Deer Park stays undefeated after a 35-21 win over Dobie
- George Ranch out-lasted Travis for a 24-21 win
- Clear Springs rallied for 38-35 win over Dickinson
- Lamar out-lasted Heights for a 35-21 win
- Tomball rallied to beat Klein for an important district win, 38-35
- New Caney also rallied for a deficit to beat Oak Ridge, 35-21
- Willis got back on track with a 63-3 win over Grand Oaks
- Angleton used a strong fourth quarter to beat Magnolia, 48-37
- Kingwood Park impressed in a 49-22 win against Crosby
- Foster shut out Friendswood 41-0 to remain undefeated
- Manvel got back on track with a 30-14 win against Magnolia West
Player of the Week
There’s no sweeter regular season win than a rivalry win, and that’s exactly what Westfield got in a 61-22 blowout of Spring last week. That result was led by my player-of-the-week, PJ Hatter!
Hatter dominated, completed 15 of his 20 passes for a whopping 443 yards and seven touchdowns. He also ran four times for 55 yards and a score. In all, that’s eight touchdowns and nearly 500 yards of offense in one game!
Westfield is running away with the district title and will be exciting to watch in the playoffs.
What to look forward to
Here’s the best games up for week six. This is also a popular bye week, so the slate is a little lighter than usual.
- Travis takes on Elkins in a big game for each team (TH)
- Katy Jordan faces Katy for the first time, fresh off a big win (TH)
- Tompkins looks to get back on track against Taylor (TH)
- Tomball battles Klein Oak in a huge game for seeding (TH)
- Conroe looks to bounce back against a good Oak Ridge squad (F)
- Cy-Fair and Jersey Village play in a battle of district favorites (F)
- Cinco Ranch looks to bounce back against Mayde Creek (F)
- Morton Ranch looks to usurp a playoff team from 2021 in Seven Lakes (F)
- Klein Forest faces off against Tomball Memorial (F)
- Dawson looks to get on track against Alief Taylor (F)
- Fulshear faces its first big test against Angleton (F)
- Stratford looks to get back on track against Cy Creek (SAT)