Cedar Hill denied Texas football state championship as Katy proves too much
Katy led start to finish and dominated Cedar Hill, 51-14, in the Class 6A Division 2 state title game Saturday afternoon at AT&T Stadium for the program’s ninth UIL football championship and first since 2015.
The Tigers (14-1) pulled into a tie for second most football state titles in UIL history. Aledo won its 10th on Friday.
Meeting for the fourth time in the state final since 2012, Saturday’s game wasn’t close, and the onslaught began at the end of the first quarter. Katy beat Cedar Hill in 2012. Cedar Hill won in 2013 and 2014.
Cedar Hill (12-2), in its first state final since 2014, was searching for its fourth football championship.
“I need to tip my hat to Coach Gary Joseph and the Katy Tigers on an outstanding and well-executed and well-played game,” said Cedar Hill coach Carlos Lynn, who was Longhorns’ defensive coordinator when they won state in 2006. “Unfortunately, we didn’t hold up on our end. We let some opportunities go and if you do that in the state championship, the other team across of you is going to capitalize.”
Katy ended a scoreless opening quarter when Caleb Koger hit a wide open Taylor Saulsberry from 37 yards to give the Tigers the 7-0 lead with 1:18 on the clock.
Koger threw for 92 yards on 5 of 9 passing.
“We were as prepared as we could be. We just didn’t execute well today. Our effort and energy was there, but execution wasn’t there,” Lynn said.
Cedar Hill’s ensuing drive ended in disaster when Katy got the ball back on a diving interception from Shepherd Bowling at the Longhorn 41. Three plays later and Jalen Davis scored on a 3-yard run.
The big play came on Koger’s 30-yard pass to Nic Anderson to the Cedar Hill 3.
The Tigers extended their lead to 17-0 on a 48-yard field goal by Nemanja Lazic with 3:31 before intermission. It tied the record for the longest field goal in UIL state championship history in any classification.
Katy’s Kris Perez hit a 48-yard field goal in the Tigers’ last state championship in 2015.
The Tigers added another score just before the break when their defense held Cedar Hill to a three-and-out and Isaiah Smith scored on a 55-yard run with 36 seconds remaining.
Lazic kicked a 21-yard field goal during Katy’s first drive of the third quarter, capping off a 9-play possession that lasted over four minutes to give the Tigers a 27-0 lead.
Hamilton McMartin scooped up a Cedar Hill fumble and extended Katy’s lead to 34-0 midway through the third.
The Cedar Hill offense finally started to click on its next drive, marching 75 yards on seven plays in just under two minutes.
QB Kaidon Salter, a 4-star Tennessee signee, scored on a 4-yard run to bring it to 34-7 with 4:28 left in the period. The big play came on a fake punt at its own 29 and Kylon Ashton turned it into a 67-yard run to the Katy 4.
Lazic booted his third field goal of the day, from 38 yards, to give Katy a 37-7 advantage in the third.
Salter added Cedar Hill’s second score with a 10-yard run late in the quarter. He rushed nine times for 43 yards and two scores. He threw for 112 yards on 12 of 24 passing, but was intercepted twice.
“Leaving for college [on Sunday], I wanted to end it with a win,” Salter said. “We came out with the loss today. We did what we could. We had a lot of busted plays.”
His second pick was to Cal Varner, who returned it 15 yards for the Katy touchdown and a 51-14 lead early in the fourth. It came just two plays after Seth Davis ran in a score from 25 yards out.
Varner added a sack and three tackles, and was voted defensive game MVP.
Seth Davis rushed 14 times for 123 yards and a TD, and was voted offensive game MVP. Jalen Davis added 109 yards and a score on 23 carries.
The Tigers out-rushed the Longhorns 298-134.
Cedar Hill’s Stefan Ingram led all defenders with 10 tackles. Bretty Lynch added nine.
“It’s not Earth science what they’re doing offensively. They have a grind mentality and they do it well,” Lynn said. “Hard to simulate. It’s tough. We left a lot of things on the table. They just played at a higher level.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 4:03 PM.
