With their Week 9 victory over Klein, the Tomball Cougars needed only a Dekaney loss in the season’s final week to ensure the Cougars’ first playoff appearance in nine years.

However, rather than rely on something they couldn’t control and risk backing into the 13-5A playoffs, the Cougars eliminated any doubt and worry by thrashing the Klein Forest Golden Eagles, 41-13 Nov. 4 to secure a playoff berth.

The win ensures that the Cougars, who finish the regular season 8-2 overall and 5-2 in district, will finish no worse than in a tie for second place in 13-5A. The Klein Collins Tigers secured the district title with a 7-0 record.

The Cougars will take on the Kingwood Mustangs at 7 p.m. at Thorne Stadium in the bi-district round of the playoffs.

What was clear last week was the Cougars’ continued dominance in their victories this year.

After falling behind the Golden Eagles early on a Lewis Williams 5-yard touchdown run, the Cougars reeled off 24 unanswered points, highlighted by a 98-yard touchdown pass from Justin Dvorak to Hunter Thompson in the second quarter.

Trailing 6-0 early in the first, the Cougars took the lead on a Jonathan Rogers 5-yard touchdown run. Less than three minutes later, the nearly-automatic Dillon Duarte hit a 17-yard field goal to put the Cougars up 10-6.

Following the long scoring pass to Thompson, the two teams went into the locker room at halftime with the score Tomball 17, Klein Forest 6.

The Cougars came out firing in the third quarter, leaving little doubt as to the outcome of the game. Hunter Thompson punched it in from 3 yards out to put the Cougars up 24-6 before the Golden Eagles could trim the score on a Desmond Van Dyke 10-yard touchdown pass.

Following another Duarte field goal, the Cougars tacked on two more touchdowns, one on Dvorak’s second touchdown pass of the evening, the second on Demetri Scott’s 8-yard scoring run.

Dvorak had yet another standout performance, throwing for 254 yards on 14-of-19 passing and three touchdown passes. For the season, Dvorak threw for 1,559 yards, 13 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

Both Thompson (103 yards) and Logan (114 yards) eclipsed the 100-yard mark in receiving yards.

Brandon Green added 88 yards on the ground to bring his season rushing total to 716 yards on 114 carries.

In their eight victories, the Cougars have outscored their opponents 293-119. In those wins, Tomball has averaged 36 points per game.

For more information about this year’s playoffs, including pairings and brackets, visit uiltexas.org.

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