By George Slaughter
ALVIN—Katy rolled to a 49-24 win over Shadow Creek in a regional playoff game Saturday at Freedom Field.
Katy, now 10-1, will next play Clear Falls in the quarterfinal round. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Legacy Stadium.
Shadow Creek ends its season at 6-4.
After Shadow Creek took an early 3-0 lead, the Tigers went to work, scoring 21 straight points. Two of those scores came on long touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Caleb Koger, who found junior wide receiver Nic Anderson for 50 yards and senior wide receiver Fuller Shurtz for 41 yards.
Koger finished the game 8-of-15 for 193 yards and five touchdowns.
Katy senior running back Jalen Davis scored on a one-yard run early in the second quarter. He finished with 19 carries for 100 yards. Sophomore running back Seth Davis was the game’s leading rusher, with 19 carries for 114 yards.
The Sharks came back with a big play on special teams, when junior defensive back Dejuan Lewis returned a blocked Katy punt for a five-yard touchdown. Lewis’s touchdown brought the Sharks to within 11 and Shadow Creek hoped that the momentum had swung back in its favor.
Katy dispelled any such ideas with two more scores to close the first half.
The Tigers forced a Sharks fumble, and Katy junior defensive back Bobby Taylor returned it for a 17-yard touchdown with 4:25 remaining in the first half. The Tigers held again defensively, and Koger threw his third touchdown pass, this one for six yards to junior running back Isaiah Smith, with seven seconds remaining.
This score gave the Tigers a commanding 35-10 lead and all but settled the contest.
Koger’s fourth touchdown pass, for 55 yards to senior Taylor Saulsberry, came with 8:47 in the third quarter.
Shadow Creek senior quarterback Kyron Drones threw the first of his two touchdown passes on a 16-yard score to senior wide receiver Carlton Guidry late in the third quarter.
Koger’s last touchdown pass, for 29 yards to Aiden McKinney, came with 5:44 remaining in the game.
Drones’s last touchdown pass, for four yards to junior wide receiver Lawrence Armstrong, came with 1:22 remaining. Drones finished 12-of-26 for 75 yards.