The Woodlands Highlanders made history Friday night at Woodforest Bank Stadium, knocking off Katy and shutting out the Tigers for the first time since 1990 and giving them their first 0-2 start since 1984. It takes two losses like this to realize how strong Katy’s tradition is. The Woodlands’ near perfect execution on all sides of the ball solidified their 47-0 win over Katy, led by The Woodlands defense and quarterback Andy McCloud.

Coming into this game, everyone knew that the Woodlands defense needed to play tough and Andy McCloud needed to repeat his opening day performance to keep the Highlanders in this game. He did just that, shredding the Katy defense for 160 yards and a touchdown on 8-12 passing. McCloud received loads of help from running backs Daniel Lasco and Ryan Eastman, each scoring two touchdowns.

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Lasco is a sophomore, who the Woodlands coaches will tell you, “they knew from his freshman year that he was a special player with an abundance of talent, speed, heart, and determination.”

Lasco ran for 75 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.

Ryan Eastman is a do it all kind of player who can line up at three separate positions offensively; wide receiver, running back and quarterback. Eastman ran the ball for 49 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, while racking up 56 yards on 5 of 7 passing.

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The Woodlands’ defense was “Awesome”, as Coach Skinner would tell you, shutting out Katy and forcing several turnovers. Katy couldn’t muster up any sort of offense, totaling  -20 yards (negative 20) at the half, racking up more yards in penalties than offensive yards.

The Woodlands front seven lived in Katy’s backfield all night giving quarterback Parker Ray no time to do anything with the ball. With Katy’s running game not working to their liking, Parker Ray was forced to try to make something out of nothing, and ended up leaving the game early after a huge hit in which he got up ended and landed on his head.  

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This was a huge game for both teams, and The Woodlands came out on top showing why their team slogan is “We’re back!”

HIGH SCHOOL SCORES FROM AROUND STATE