Saturday Night at Tully Stadium in Spring Branch the La Porte Bulldogs traveled into the "sea of red" and out muscled the Katy Tigers for a 9-7 victory and a place in the Division 2 Region 3 Finals and a rematch with the Port Arthur Memorial Titans.
Most people around the state view the Bulldogs victory over the number one ranked Tigers as a shock, but La Porte believed and the Dark Side defense had something to say.
La Porte is crashing the party this season.
With a 20-30 mph northwest wind field position would be a key and La Porte won the opening coin toss to get the wind at their back and differ to the second half. This was a very important event as the Bulldogs would keep the ball on their side of the field for the entire first quarter.
La Porte would take advantage after the defense harassed Katy's backfield and caused a 3 and out with Katy punting from deep in their own territory the Bulldogs would get their first bite. The punt was fielded by Junior Keith Whitely and he made a great effort straight down the middle of the field breaking tackles and taking the ball to the six yard line. After getting stuffed on first and second down Senior Quarterback Josh Vidales would start out with a run to the right and reverse field to the left where he had a open lane to the end zone and a touchdown. Katy would get all kinds of penetration on the extra point attempt and instead of risking a block and return Whitely would keep it around the right side and get stopped short of the goal line. La Porte would take the early lead 6-0 with 5:07 left in the first quarter.
La Porte's Senior Linebackers Chad Sutherland, Cameron Whilley and Chris Hickey would help the Bulldogs stuff the run all night and harass Katy's Senior Quarterback Brooks Haack causing miss-throws and incomplete passes also aided by the windy conditions. Katy had no answers on offense. Sophomore Linebacker Hoza Scott also continued his strong play with a couple sacks, a forced fumble and a pass deflection.
However the Tigers would break through in the second quarter with Haack finding Senior Wide Receiver Jordan Thompson for a 52 yard touchdown pass. La Porte's Junior Cornerback Malik Graves slipped on the play and Thompson did the rest. Katy would get the extra point and make it 7-6 Katy with 10:04 left in the second quarter.
That would be the only slip up of the night for the Dark Side and the first touchdown the first team defense had given up since the Port Arthur Memorial game four weeks ago. All the touchdowns over the last three games had come against the second string defense. Graves more than made up for the slip later in the game and got an interception on the goal line that shifted the momentum back to La Porte. Graves and fellow Junior Cornerback Ellis Hutchinson would free up the safeties to stop the running game with excellent man to man coverage all night, their best effort of the season.
With Katy leading 7-6 heading towards the 4th quarter La Porte would finally get the opening they needed. It seemed Katy was finally getting something going and a pass interference call got the Tigers into La Porte territory, however on the next play Scott would force the fumble and Whilley would recover.
The Bulldogs were stuffed again by the stout Tiger defense and punted back, but La Porte would get the wind at their backs for the final quarter and that would make the difference. After a Katy punt La Porte would take over with great field position inside Tiger territory at the 40 yard line. A big run by Whitely would get the Bulldogs to the Katy 16 where the drive would stall. Junior Kicker Eric Medina booted through the pressure packed 30 yard field goal to give La Porte a lead they would not relinquish. La Porte lead 9-7 with 4:38 left.
The defensive struggle would continue with both teams punting back and forth again. With two minutes left Katy took over at midfield. The wind was in their face so there was not much chance at a field goal. The Tigers got a first down into La Porte territory and the stadium was as tense of an atmosphere as I've ever felt at a La Porte High School game. La Porte would pressure Haack and cause two incompletions leading to 4th and 8. La Porte's Senior Safety Aaron Nance-Garrett, who had a great game in coverage and against the run would step in front of the Katy receiver for a interception that would seal the game. La Porte kneeled to kill the rest of the clock and pull off the upset. The La Porte Bulldogs beat the Katy Tigers!
It was a epic defensive battle with La Porte's big guys up front battling all night with Katy's big men. Both teams only managed 7 first downs. Katy's all area Quarterback Haack was held in check with only 88 yards on 26 percent passing and two interceptions. The Bulldogs played turnover and mistake free football combined with the Dark Side's take no prisoners defense. Whitely lead La Porte with 94 yards rushing on 29 carries. Not one of those yards was easy.
With Katy out of the way we have a rematch of the 21-5A Championship Game last month against Port Arthur Memorial. It will be on the big stage Saturday 12/3 at 1pm in Reliant Stadium. The La Porte Bulldogs are two wins away from the state championship game!
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