The Cooldown - Week Six
Houston Week Six Recap
Week six brought plenty of entertainment. Katy vs Tompkins lived up to the hype and 15-6A has started to cannibalize itself in what may be the state’s most interesting district. We’ll cover that and more in this week’s edition of The Cooldown.
1. Tompkins Impresses
Yes, I know they lost. But Tompkins 35-30 loss against Katy was impressive nonetheless. UT commit Jalen Milroe carved up an otherwise stout Tiger defense for 407 yards and three scores; completing 19 of his 28 passes.
Katy led 14-10 at halftime before opening up a 35-10 lead in the third quarter. The Falcons had a few key mistakes that likely cost them the game. Milroe fumbled an exchange on the first play of the third quarter which led to a Katy touchdown. Later in the quarter, the Falcons gave up a punt return for a touchdown that increased the Tiger lead that proved to be insurmountable.
Another guy who has been impressive all season is Katy’s Jordan Patrick. The Tiger wide-out scored on a 65-yard deep ball from Bronson McClelland with 3:09 left in the third, but that would be the last time Katy would score. The Falcon defense limited an explosive Katy offense to no points in the final 15 minutes to allow Tompkins to make things interesting at the end.
Milroe hit Gabe Akin for a 73-yard touchdown with 2:17 left in the third to begin the comeback. He followed that up with a 30-yard strike to Garrett Mack on a reverse flea flicker to bring the Falcons within 11. Another late touchdown brought the Tiger lead down to five, but Tompkins wasn’t able to recover an onside kick which effectively sealed the game.
Galena Park North Shore has been the only team to play Katy closer than five points this season; falling to the Tigers 24-21 back on the opening day of the season. If Tompkins is able to fall into the 6A Division II playoff bracket rather than Division I, the Falcons will be a serious threat to make it to Arlington in late December.
2. 15-6A is wild
We’ve got a lot to digest here. Let’s go ahead and say that Klein Forest and College Park won’t make the playoffs. Klein Forest is 0-5 (0-3 in 15-6A) and College Park is 3-3 (1-3 15-6A). That leaves seven teams competing for four playoff spots, since 15-6A has the burden of being a district loaded with talent, and it has nine teams instead of the usual eight.
Klein and Conroe Oak Ridge are 1-2 in district. The Woodlands is at 2-2 while Klein Cain sits at 2-1. Conroe, Klein Collins and Klein Oak are in a three-way tie for first place at 3-1. Conroe picked up a big 38-13 win against Klein where Tiger quarterback Christian Pack continued his reign of terror on the district. The Woodlands faltered in a 28-14 loss against Klein Cain while Oak Ridge had its bye week.
The big game I want to talk about here is Klein Oak’s big 35-33 win against Klein Collins. The Tigers were the last undefeated team in the district until last weekend. Dwight McGlothern put on another show for Klein Oak, catching seven balls for 124 yards and two scores. That performance was topped by Braelon Bridges, who finished the night with 32 carries for 248 yards and three touchdowns for Collins. Bridges also caught four passes for 67 yards to finish with more than 300 all-purpose yards on the night.
Somehow, Klein Oak was able to survive Bridges’ career night for an impressive win to put them at the top of the race in 15-6A. It’s looking like Klein Oak and Klein Collins will command two of the four playoff spots, leaving The Woodlands, Klein, Klein Cain, Conroe and Oak Ridge to fight for the remaining two. And I’m betting Christian Pack leads Conroe to one of those two remaining spots.
Would The Woodlands missing the playoffs be absolutely crazy? When was the last time that happened?
3. Hightower Takes Down Angleton
As if we haven’t discussed enough chaos already, lets move to the most intriguing district in 5A. Angleton is off to an 0-2 district start and it’s hard to blame them. District 10-5A Division I includes the Wildcats along with Hightower, Shadow Creek, Foster and Friendswood. Those five will be fighting for four playoff spots with Angleton currently the odd-man-out. The other four are all off to 2-0 starts in district.
Hightower’s 23-20 win over Angleton is big for one obvious reason: Foster and Shadow Creek are two of the best teams in the state. They will land playoff spots and both will likely go deep in the playoffs. Shadow Creek beat Foster in the regular season and again in the playoffs a year ago. That means every win against teams not named Shadow Creek and Foster are big for the rest of the district because it doesn’t look like anyone is beating those two.
Hightower still has to play Shadow Creek and Foster, but they hold the advantage over Angleton when it comes to the playoff race, which could be big when it comes down to it.