LONGVIEW VS KATY
TEAMS
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
FINAL
LONGVIEW
0
3
0
0
3
KATY
0
14
3
7
24
GAME STATISTICS
STATISTIC
LONGVIEW
KATY
First Downs
6
18
Rushing Yards
43
222
Passing Yards
150
57
Passes
10-15-0
3-7-0
Punts
4-35.0
3-39.3
Fumbles/Lost
1-0
0-0
Penalties
4-25
6-40
KATY TAKES TO AIR FOR GAME'S BIGGEST PLAY
HOUSTON - The Katy Tigers, a team averring nearly 250 yards per game on the ground this season, wont state championship with one pass here Saturday.

Leading 7-3 with time running out in the first half, the Tigers went up top and hit pay dirt with a 38-yard scoring strike from quarterback Matt Gore to wide receiver Mason White.

White's diving reception sent Katy to the locker room with a 14-3 cushion, allowing the Tigers to return to what they do best - run the football - in the second half.

Longview, which made a habit of turning halftime deficits into remarkable comebacks during the regular season, was unable to rally Saturday in a 24-3 loss in the Class 5A Division I Texas Bowl Championship game at the Astrodome.

Senior captains Lee Jackson and Shawn Byrdsong both admitted the feeling in the locker room at half-time Saturday was different than in earlier games against John Tyler, Lufkin and Killeen - games the Lobos trailed in but came back to win.

"We had a couple of breakdowns and gave up a couple big plays and got down on ourselves," Jackson said. "Never in the course of the game did we think we were out of it. We all said we would come back, but we were down a little."

Longview took an early lead Saturday with a 27-yard field goal by Erin Roerecke, but Katy drove 77 yards in 16 plays to take a 7-3 lead on a 1-yard run by Gore with 2:43 to play. After the Lobos stalled out on three plays on the next drive, Katy delivered what proved to be the knockout punch.

Taking over at its own 37 with 1:31 to play in the half, Katy started things by handing the ball to Bronston Carroll three consecutive times. Carroll, one of two 1,000-yard rushers for the Tigers this season, later picked up nine yards on a crucial third-and-eight with time running out.

That's when Gore, who passed for just 322 yards in four previous playoff games, dropped back and hit a diving White for the touchdown with five seconds showing on the clock.

Ryan Nugent's PAT made it a 14-3 contest, and despite the fact the Lobos came back with a 47-yard Lee Nix to Fred Talley screen pass to end the half the Lobos were never able to recapture the momentum.

"That was a real critical play," said Byrdsong. "If they hadn't scored on that play it would have been 7-3 at the half. Instead it was 14-3, and they had the momentum going in. It didn't break our backs. We came back a lot this season, and we kept saying remember John Tyler and remember Lufkin and all those hard games. We put our faith in God, but we fell short. They (Katy) just played a great game."

The play was particularly hard for the Lobos to swallow since it came from a Katy team that featured not only Carroll (237 carries, 1,418 yards) but also senior Rain Green (181-1,239). The Tigers had rushed for 4,430 yards heading into Saturday's contest, completing just 52 passes for 861 yards - an average of just more than 66 yards per game.

Katy finished with 57 yards through the air Saturday - 38 coming on the touchdown pass from Gore to White.

"They pounded on us early, but we were used to that. We just weren't able to overcome the big letdown after the pass" senior linebacker Leon Bell said. "We got down, and it bragged on into the fourth quarter. I thought we had put it behind us at the half. I still thought we had a chance, but we didn't get it done."

Katy did get it done. Much to the dismay of Lobo fans, the Tigers got it done through the air.