KATY NEWS – SPORTS NOTEBOOK 10-19-17

CROSS COUNTRY

by Tom Behrens

Tompkins boys and girls runners swept the district cross country championship last weekend, Oct 14, but also earned two spots at the Region III meet.

BOYS:

The Falcons and Spartans finished the race with 42 points after five runners, highlighted by Tompkins’ champion and runner-up duo of senior Daniel Figueroa and sophomore Cole Lindhorst. Figueroa finished the three-mile course in 15 minutes, 44 seconds, six seconds ahead of Lindhorst.

Jonathan Hernandez (8th, 16:20) and Justin Duffy (12th, 16:31) kept the Falcons in the lead despite Seven Lakes’ close group of Andrew Gandy (5th, 16:06), Carson Slater (6th, 16:10), Josh Kuriakose (7th, 16:15) and Corbin Brescher (9th, 16:26).

Seven Lakes will have another shot at a team title Oct. 23 at Kate-Barr Ross Park in Huntsville.

Strake Jesuit earned the third and final regional spot, led by Erik Lara’s third-place time of 15:51.

Morton Ranch’s Olari Livingston advanced to regionals as a top-10 district runner, finishing fourth with a time of 16:01. Katy’s Cameron Colvin punched his ticket to Huntsville with a 10th-place time of 16:28.

GIRLS:    

Tompkins girls scored 36 points to finish ahead of regional qualifiers Katy (63) and Cinco Ranch (81). Varsity rookies Hayden Gold (2nd, 18:59) and Lauren Titus (3rd, 18:59) led Tompkins, with Alyssa Balandran (8th, 19:09) giving the team a third top-10 finisher. Laura Orgeron (11th) and Marisa Marinchak (12th) sealed the victory, with Grace Kohout and Kat Ibarra completing the championship lineup.

Katy returns to the regional meet with three top-10 runners as well. Isabella Anderson (6th, 19:08), Audrey Witham (7th, 19:09), Carolina Ortiz (9th, 19:12), Kennedy McEntyre, Brooke Lomax, Amelia Couture and Morgan Brient took the Tigers to Huntsville.

Cinco Ranch Cougars advanced to regionals with a lineup of Megan Hopper (10th, 19:19), Fiorella Vera, Holly Dasher, Reagan Kappel, Dalia Najjar and Ella Atkinson.

Morton Ranch made program history with its first regional qualifiers. Senior twins Diane Barriere (4th, 18:59) and Desiree Barriere (5th, 19:05) will run together at least once more in Huntsville.

The top four teams and top 10 individuals in the region advance to the UIL Class 6A state championship, Nov. 4 in Round Rock.

FOOTBALL:

Strake Jesuit continues to play strong

Michael Wiley started the scoring for the Crusaders of Strake Jesuit as the Crusaders held on for a key 35-28 victory against Morton Ranch Friday at Rhodes Stadium.

The Crusaders started fast with touchdowns on their first two drives and held on to improve to 4-1 overall, 2-1 in District 19-6A in their first season under new head coach Mark Modeste. Their only loss was 21-13 to Cinco Ranch, but they responded with a 34-13 victory against Seven Lakes.

Morton Ranch made it interesting with less than a minute left. Deonte Bradofrd’s catch in the end zone brought the Mavericks within one touchdown, 28-21.

Wiley scored two touchdowns and almost had a third on a 70-yard sprint one play after the Mavericks pulled within a touchdown for the first time all game. Wiley scored again, then Michael Hansen’s one-yard, play-action touchdown pass to a wide-open Sean Mowatt-Larssen.

Mowatt-Larssen’s catch produced the margin Strake Jesuit needed with 2 minutes, 54 seconds remaining.

Beek corralled for only 64 yards

Cinco Ranch can now show off three landslide victories after its game last week. It steamrolled Taylor 44 – 0. With three TDs, senior Brant Kuithe was a significant factor in the success. The longest score for Kuithe was a punishing 66-yard dash in the second quarter. Kuithe ran for 245 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. In the loss, Ean Beek for Taylor ran for 64 yards on 20 carries.

Mayde Creek wins first district win

Rams quarterback Keyonte Fiakpui scored one of his three rushing touchdowns on the first drive on a six yard run while Mayde Creek went on to a 42-17 win over Tompkins. He scored on a 10 yard run on the second Ram possession and added a three yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The dual-threat playmaker also tossed a touchdown pass of eight yards to Ike Nsoedo in the second quarter

Fiakpui finished with 150 yards rushing on 24 carries and was 8-4 passing for 94 yards.

Tre’Vion Goins and Trevon Aikens also added TDs for the Rams.

Katy Stays #3 in State Rankings

Joshua Oglesby, Deondrick Glass, Jordan Patrick and Austin Marshall crossed the goal line for Katy in a 41-3 win over Seven Lakes. Seth Small and David Buteaux add PATs and field goals for the Katy Tigers in a 41-3 win over the Spartans.

Class 6A rankings: (1) Allen, 5-0; (2) Converse Judson, 5-0; (3) Katy, 3-0; (4) DeSoto, 5-0; (5) Austin Westlake, 6-0; (6) Sachse, 5-0; (7) Lake Travis, 4-1; (8) Waco Midway; (9) The Woodlands, 2-1; and (10) Klein Collins, 4-0.

 

NOTABLE ALUMNI:

Former Katy High School standout running back Rodney Anderson finished with 48 yards and one touchdown, and had a career-long run of 21 yards in the Sooners of Oklahoma’s win over the Longhorns of Texas. Entering the Texas game, Anderson had just 39 yards on 13 carries to show for three years of being on the roster. He spent the first two years unable to play due to injuries.

Another Katy Tiger grad, a defensive player, Collin Wilder is learning, growing and making plays for the University of Houston.

In 2016 Wilder saw action in all 13 Cougar games, with the majority of action on special teams and as the Cougars’ punt returner. He totaled nine punt returns for an average of 4.4 yards per return. He had one tackle in his collegiate debut in a win over No. 3 Oklahoma.

In 2017 Wilder appeared in the season opener at Arizona, Sept. 9, totaled two tackles in the 19-16 win.