Game story: Katy Taylor 42, Baytown Sterling 27

By DAVE PURPURA
The Athlete's Connection

It was tough to tell in the first quarter Saturday whether Katy Taylor or Baytown Sterling had had a three-week layoff because of Hurricane Ike.

For the record, Sterling hadn’t played since starting 2-0 while Taylor had won two straight games coming in.

But Taylor’s defense kept the Mustangs afloat long enough for the offense to find its groove, and they scored 35 straight points in the middle quarters to erase a 13-point deficit and win 42-27 at Stallworth Stadium.

Sterling fumbles set up Taylor’s first two scores – a 1-yard run by John Lattal and a 7-yard pass from Lee Rodgers to Steven Sartory – and Josh Thomas returned an interception 64 yards for the Mustangs (3-1), who trailed 20-7 just minutes into the second quarter but led 28-20 at halftime despite amassing only 108 yards in the first half.

Taylor was outgained 363-279.

“The first three touchdowns were basically all them (the defense),” said Lattal, who finished with 137 yards on 17 carries and caught a 61-yard touchdown pass just before halftime. “They gave us the ball inside the 20 pretty much every time and we just had to score from there.”

Taylor led midway through the first quarter, but Keagan Kogut’s 24-yard strike to Dwain Nicholas and Malcolm Zeno’s 1- and 4-yard touchdown runs staked Sterling (2-1) to a 20-7 lead.

“They hadn’t played a game in three weeks and they were the ones on top of us first,” Mustangs coach Flint Risien said. “But our guys got back in it. Our defense kept us in. Fortunately we were able to convert those short drives into touchdowns. Otherwise it could have been ugly.

“Our defense takes a lot of pride in creating turnovers. They stayed in the fight. They’re still learning. They stayed to the cause and fortunately in the third quarter they grabbed the momentum and kept it.”

Thomas read Kogut perfectly on his long run halfway through the second quarter, which gave Taylor a 21-20 lead.

“We watched film all week and we knew that was where he liked to throw the ball, so when he turned his shoulders to me I just broke on the ball and trusted my legs to take me into the end zone,” Thomas said. “We have a way of responding to what coaches tell us. We knew we could come out here and play great defense.”

Lattal added touchdown runs of 1 and 82 yards in the second half.

“We came out weak in the beginning. We knew we had to make some plays. We started running more in the second half and the line was working better,” Lattal said. “They came out in a defense we weren’t used to so we had to adjust a little bit at halftime. We did a good job of adjusting our formations to them.”

Kogut was 23-of-34 for 294 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Chance Nelson caught five passes for 86 yards for the Rangers.