2012 National Champ: Katy of Texas

The 16-0 Tigers claim mythical national crown in nation’s oldest national football rankings. John Curtis Christian of Louisiana, De La Salle of California also in the running, but Tigers get the nod after dominating season in Texas Class 5A competition.

The Katy Tigers had a lot to be happy about for what happened during 2012 season, the latest of which is being named mythical champions by the revived National Sports News Service. Photo by Joe Goodman/Courtesy Katy Times.

By Mark Tennis & Doug Huff

With a record-breaking running back leading the way and a second 16-0 record in the last six years, the Katy High School football team of Katy, Texas has been selected as the mythical national champion by the National Sports News Service.

That means the Tigers also are No. 1 in the final 2012 National Sports News Service Top 50 rankings. HighSchoolGridiron.com, a new historical-themed national high school football web site, is the home of the revived National Sports News Service rankings.

Head coach Gary Joseph’s team won the Class 5A Division II state title with a 35-24 victory over Cedar Hill (Texas) on Dec. 21 before 42,621 at Cowboys Stadium. This capped a season in which the Tigers were ranked No. 1 in Class 5A in the state for most of the season by both Texas Football Magazine and an Associated Press panel of voters.

Katy also has one other key component of being a national champion and that is a track record of recent success. This year’s team reached a state final for the 10th time in 16 years, won its seventh state championship and improved its Class 5A state playoff record since 1980 to 66-15, which is second-best in the state. Among Katy’s list of alums are current NFL players Andy Dalton (Bengals), Terrance Frederick (Giants) and Ryan Mouton (Titans).

Also strongly considered for the mythical national title were John Curtis Christian (14-0) of River Ridge, La., and De La Salle (15-0) of Concord, Calif. Katy was chosen higher than John Curtis Christian due to strength of schedule while the Tigers were picked higher than De La Salle because this was probably the best team in their school’s history while De La Salle has had more talented teams in its history.

This year’s team at Katy was arguably the best in school history due to the dominating nature of many of its wins. Two of those that stood out were 63-10 over perennial power The Woodlands and 55-10 over La Porte, which was 11-1 coming into that contest that included a 27-10 victory over perennial power North Shore of Galena.

In the Class 5A Division II state semifinals, the Tigers faced Steele of Cibolo, which also was 14-0 and was No. 3 in the Class 5A state rankings at the end of the regular season. They won 45-33 behind running back Adam Taylor’s 41 carries for 231 yards and three touchdowns. It also should be noted that the Class 5A state rankings being referenced includes teams both from Division I and Division II.

In the state championship, Taylor was even more impressive. He ran for 277 yards on 30 carries and scored five touchdowns. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder, who has committed to Nebraska, ended the season with 2,755 yards and 44 scores. Taylor’s efforts also were inspirational to his teammates since he had to come back from a knee injury that cost him most of his junior season.

According to the Houston Chronicle, part of the reason the Tigers had to depend so much on Taylor down the stretch was a shoulder injury to junior quarterback Kiley Huddleston that hindered his throwing. Huddleston still ended up with a solid season with 1,593 yards passing and 20 scores.

The emergence of sophomore running back Rodney Anderson as a complement to Taylor was another reason for Katy’s success. Anderson, who had 838 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns on the year, ran for one score and had another receiving when the Tigers topped Steele.

Defensively, among the Katy standouts were defensive end Matt Dimon (committed to Oklahoma), defensive back Isaiah Brown (10 interceptions) and defensive back Quinn Atwood (eight interceptions).