Tigers overcome shaky start
Klein Oak had a chance last week against The Woodlands but came up a little short in the second half. Klein Collins wasn’t as congenial.
The rival Tigers shoved aside a slow start, then seized control with a strong ground attack, leading to a ragged 14-0 win Friday night at Klein Memorial Stadium — their 19th consecutive in district play.
“They’re a good team, so we’re excited about the win,” first-year Collins coach Adrian Mitchell said. “We had some squandered opportunities, where (the Panthers) stepped up big, and obviously you’ve got to give those guys credit … (but) I’d like to see us eliminate a lot of those mental errors.”
Klein Collins improved to 6-0, 4-0 in District 15-6A. Klein Oak, which started a promising 4-0, suffered its second straight setback, sending it to 4-2, 2-2.
Collins has won 23 consecutive regular-season games, despite losing coach Drew Svoboda to Rice in the offseason, and five straight against Oak.
“This is really big for us,” Collins running back Isaiah Spiller said. “Oak’s a really good team, and we just came out, trusted our coaches, played really hard and came out with the win.”
Spiller activated beast mode early, breaking a 54yard run on his second carry, but the opening drive ended poorly, with the Tigers fumbling at the goal line, recovering, then fumbling again.
Oak’s Keon Jones recovered the second fumble in the end zone for a touchback.
The Tigers also turned the ball over on downs on their second possession before delivering consecutive TD drives.
QB Carter Rhyne capped the first with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Xierre Murray on his lone firsthalf completion. Murray hauled in the pass while holding off Chris Satterfield with 36 seconds left in the first quarter.
Then Spiller powered a 10-play, 74-yard drive he finished with a 7-yard score.
The 6-0, 201-pound Texas A&M pledge, the son of former Aggies tight end Fred Spiller, had 143 yards on 14 carries at halftime. Klein Oak, on the other hand, had 65 total yards at the break. Spiller finished with 206 yards on 24 carries.
But the Tigers, after amassing 246 yards in the first half, finished with 325 and 17 first downs, only three in the second half.
“We did not do well offensively,” Spiller said. “We need to work on our second half. We had mental mistakes, so we need to get better at the little things.”
Kicker Seth Morgan missed a 43-yard field goal wide left after Oak failed to convert a third-and-1 in the second quarter. That was the closest the Panthers came to scoring.
They reached the Collins’ 24 with three minutes left, then Rashad Truitt picked Oak QB Montrell Bolton in the end zone, allowing the Tigers to run out the clock. Oak finished with 242 yards and 11 first downs.
“They have some serious firepower,” Mitchell said. “Their quarterback is elusive, they have some really good receivers, some fast running backs, O-linemen — they’re a really good team. They’re going to win a lot of football games.”