Even with a scare in the fourth quarter, the Tigers come away victorious

The Katy Tigers are getting used to playing in professional and collegiate football stadiums. That happens a lot for championship teams.

The Tigers won their seventh state football championship Dec. 22 at Cowboys Stadium, defeating the Cedar Hill Longhorns 35-24 to claim the Class 5A Division II crown. The win capped a 16-0 season for the Tigers. It was the school's fifth title in 13 years, the last coming in 2008. The win put Katy in rare Texas air, as only Celina and Southlake Carroll have more state titles at eight each.

Katy was led by running back Adam Taylor, who had 30 carries for 277 yards and five touchdowns. Quarterback Kiley Huddleston completed 3 of 6 passed for 44 yards, but was reportedly playing on a broken leg. He injured the leg against Cibolo Steele in the semifinal game.

Taylor was named the offensive player of the game, and teammate Matt Dimon took home defensive player of the game honors for his two quarterback sacks.

"Thank you for giving us the opportunity at Katy to be successful," said coach Gary Joseph at the Jan. 22 Katy ISD school board meeting.