Football Preview: Inside Look at District 15-6A

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Jaime Rowe

After a successful campaign last year, the Cougars feature nine new faces on offense.

Ashton Lux, Sports Editor

Tomball: 4th Place (3-3 District, 7-3 Overall) 

Coming off an 11-4 season, State Semifinal appearance, Tomball has become the team to beat. Despite losing some players such as Army West Point QB Cale Hellums, Houston Baptist University WR Jayden Grey, University of Houston DE Cavan Tuley, and more, the Cougars do have some key players returning. At the running back position, Senior Christian Womack will be the go-to guy this year as he racked up 1,369 Rushing yards with 21 touchdowns. Blocking for Womack and first-year quarterback Carter Noyes, will be right guard Abram Nicklas. On the defensive side Juniors, Keegan Demmer and Ramon Pernas will be the force of the team under new head coach Dave Handel.   

 

Klein: 5th Place (2-4 District, 4-6 Overall)

After just falling short of clinching the last playoff spot in a 35-14 loss against Tomball in week ten, Klein will be determined to change the narrative of their season. With returning players such as Junior quarterback Bankston Lemcke and Senior Army West Point commit running back Myles Arterberry the Bearkats have an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2018.

 

Klein Oak: 3rd Place (4-2 District, 6-6 Overall)

Klein Oak will be interesting to watch this year, historically they’ve been in the top half of the district as they’ve clinched a playoff spot the last nine years in a row but have recently lost their quarterback, Preston Hatter, to Westfield High School. Despite this loss they have Senior Three Star Wide receiver and the University of Memphis commit, Kaleb Black returning. Kaleb accumulated just shy of 1000 total yards with eight total touchdowns.

 

Waller: Not in district 5th Place 1-5A (3-5 District, 4-5 Overall)

With the growing community in Waller and the recent change in alignments, Waller has been moved from 1-5A to 15-6A. This past year the Bulldogs just fell short of the playoffs as they placed 5th in district play with a 3-5 record. With quarterback Caleb Godfrey graduating it will be interesting to see who steps up and takes over the offense. Junior running back Alex Barrs will also play a fundamental role for Waller on the ground as the state of their passing game is unsure.

 

Tomball Memorial: 7th Place (0-6 District, 2-8 Overall)

After winning a district championship just two seasons ago under Colton Marwell and Joeseph Manjack, this past year was well below the expectations for the Wildcats as they fell to the bottom of the district. Heading into this year the Wildcats look to return to the status quo as they continue to implement a dual quarterback system under Senior Reed Odell and Junior Lane Stockton as they accumulated almost 3,000 in the air combined. Their go-to targets have been Seniors Cory O’Bryant and Chase Lovick.

 

Klein Forest: 6th Place (1-5 District, 5-5 Overall)

Just in the last three years, Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Jonathan Wilson has truly changed the Klein Forest Program around. This past year the Eagles were able to break .500 as well as win their first district game in over ten years. With a well-rounded coaching staff and a large group of heavily recruited athletes such as Three Star Arkansas Commit Brad Spence, Four Star Parker Jenkins, Four Star Jelani Watkins, Carter Jenkins, Jaylen Brag, and Trent Spence, this Eagle group can be the team to look out for this year.

 

Klein Collins: 2nd Place (5-1 District, 5-6 Overall)

Coming in at second place in district, Klein Collins has continued to stay in the playoff contention every year as they begin their season with arguably one of the hardest non-district schedules as they opened up to Atascosita, North Shore, and Katy Tompkins. This tough schedule prepares the Tigers for what is to come in district. The Tigers also have a stack of offensive threats with Three Star Ethan Wyatt, Three Star Louisiana commit, Michael Wilson, and Chris Gant Jr all getting the ball from Junior Tucker Parks.

 

Klein Cain: Undefeated (6-0) District Champions (10-2 Overall)

Key players: Patrick Batiste, Sr.; Jaelen Smith, Sr.; Gibson Pyle, Jr.

Arguably the most stacked offensive team of last year, Klein Cain looks to continue their dominance despite graduating their key offensive players such as former four-star wide receiver and now freshman at the University of Houston Matthew Golden, quarterback Carson Roper, and runningback Ramir Mccray the Hurricanes do have returning talent  that can take over the reins. For offense the go-to wide receiver is senior Jaelen Smith, on the offensive line four-star junior Gibson Pyle is the leader of the line. On the defensive side Senior cornerback, Patrick Batiste has the secondary covered when it comes to the air.