Tigers' all-or-nothing shot comes up short, 35-34
By Nick Georgandis
Sports Editor

Saturday, December 4, 2004 11:40 PM CST

With a third overtime against Clear Lake's potent wishbone attack looming, the Katy High School football team went for two and missed to lose the regional final 35-34 at Rice Stadium in double overtime Saturday evening.

The winner-take-all final call epitomized both teams' emotions on the afternoon. Clear Lake had been on the edge of certain defeat with 10 seconds left in regulation before blocking a Katy field goal and the Tigers had been on the brink of defeat in the first extra period before a Falcon field goal sailed wide right.

Katy trailed 35-28 after Falcon quarterback Scott Oswald scored on a fourth-and-one plunge to start off the second overtime.

The Tigers converted a third-and-nine on a 15-yard James Aston run in their half of the second onvertime and got down to the one where Jared Gayhart scored to close the gap to 35-34.

After calling a timeout, Katy opted to go for two, with Gayhart rolling out. He was nearly sacked, then saw Logan Madden flash open for a split second. Gayhart threw the ball and it was intercepted by Falcon linebacker Cary Chiampi to send Clear Lake to their first-ever state semifinal while ending Katy's season at 12-2.

The Tiger defense struggled to stop Clear Lake's potent wishbone attack all game long, giving up two long touchdown runs on each of the Falcons' first two possessions.

Nevertheless, Katy took a 21-14 lead into halftime thanks to the rushing attack of James Aston and the big day receiving by tight end James Colon.

Aston unofficially tallied 298 yards on 44 carries, scoring three touchdowns. His 44 carries broke Jerrold Jones' record of 42 set in 2001. His 298 yards were the second-most all-time behind Bill Jatzlau's 322 in 1993.

Katy made a risky decision by punting the ball on fourth-and-one from midfield with 5:10 to play in the fourth quarter and the game tied at 28-28. But the Tiger defense held and Will Thompson's 36-yard punt return gave Katy the ball at the Clear Lake 39 with 2:05 left in regulation.

An intentional grounding call set up a third-and-16, but a 20-yard pass from Andy Dalton to Thompson kept the drive alive. Katy powered the ball down to the Clear Lake seven-yard line and called its final timeout with 10 seconds to play.

Rusty Aki came on for the field goal to win it, but Clear Lake's Isiah Cameron got a hand on it, deflecting it short.

In overtime, Katy looked doomed when Aston fumbled on the Tigers' second play. Clear Lake could not capitalize as Kyle Chism's 35-yard attempt sailed just wide right to force a second overtime.

The Falcons have played five overtimes in their past two games. Clear Lake did not commit a turnover or a penalty against Katy, while the Tigers suffered three give-aways, including two in overtime.

In the second overtime, Clear Lake was on the offensive first and got big yardage from Oswald, who wiggled his way into the end zone on fourth and one to give the Falcons a 35-28 lead.

For a complete wrapup of the game and the Tigers' season, see the Wednesday edition of The Katy Times.