The Tomball Cougars went into Klein Memorial Stadium Thursday, Sep. 12 to face the Klein Collins Tigers in the district opener and one of their most anticipated matchups of the year which delivered on a great game.
Tomball came into this matchup 2-0 riding the momentum of a big senior night win against Cinco Ranch, and Klein Collins came in 0-2 looking to turn it around after suffering a blowout loss to Willis. The Cougars surely had this game pinned as they would look to take down the Tigers for the first time in 17 years and get an edge on beating one of the toughest teams in the district early.
“It’s always great when you can beat a team like Klein Collins on the road especially when it’s the first game in district and going into the bye week,” Athletic director Dave Handal said. “This win not only for us but for these boys is one they’re gonna remember for the rest of their lives.”
From opening kickoff Tomball came out hot as they scored on back to back drives to take a 14-0 lead early. After that they looked fully in the driver’s seat after a goal line stop but a punt would flip the first half. The Tigers would march down and score then find another touchdown before half. The Cougars would attempt a 51-yard field goal to break their drought that was no good and the teams would go into the locker rooms even at 14-14. Tomball has waned out a bit each game where they looked strongly in control and they let a team get back in the game which could be costly later in the season.
“We’ve yet to put together a good four quarters. We’ve put together a good two and a half or three quarters and we’ve shown flashes but we haven’t played a full game yet,” Handal said. “In order to have the success we want to have we have to execute for four quarters and it starts with focus in practice on cleaning up the little things and executing.”
After halftime it was all Cougars as the defensive showdown continued for one side. Tomball put up a shutout second half including a forced turnover and the offense put up two touchdowns and controlled much of the clock through a dominant run game and efficiently picking up first downs.
“These players have done a great job and every time we’ve needed a play, whether it was offensively, defensively or special teams they’ve found a way to make it.” Handal said. “We play complimentary football and that’s what good teams do, we play off of each other and build off of each other and all three phases we’ve executed and found ways to win.”
The Cougars wore down Collins play in and play out and were very clearly dominating each aspect of the game. They physically imposed their will to the point where the Tigers were absolutely demoralized and had no fight left in them other than to watch the clock tick down, and once it hit zeros after Jaxyn Faldyn took a victorious knee the Cougars would go home all smiles after a final score of 28-14. This would be the first Tomball team to beat Klein Collins since 2007, and they go into the bye week 1-0 in district with lots of momentum and time to recover ahead of Magnolia West.
“It felt great to get this win as a captain and a senior to lead a win like this is an amazing feeling. We prevailed through some things and came out of halftime really strong and it was a great win for the team.” Team Captain Colby St. John said.
Before the season Tomball was very overlooked in the Houston are and not considered dangerous but they’ve proven their doubters wrong and have looked very good to start the season.
“We had a lot of seniors graduate but like coach Handal says we don’t rebuild we reload and we’re gonna keep this momentum rolling out of the bye week and we’re gonna show everybody what Tomball has to do” St. John said.
Coach Handal and the Cougars have a long way to go to the end of the season and it’s only getting started. “It’s been great so far but there’s a lot of football left and it’s gonna be fun.”
Player Highlights:
Offensive line (Colby St John, Ryne Laws, Miles Hagan, Camden Whitworth, Carson Brown)
#0 Oswaldo Morales- 191 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
#3 Jaxyn Faldyn- 132 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 33 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown
#88 Miles Roy- 73 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Defensive highlights:
#98 Lucas Pernas
#15 Braeden Schneider
#90 Ryan Troy
