"It's great to get our first district win," said TWHS head coach Mark Schmid. "I'm real pleased with the way our defense played. Any time you hold an opponent to 10 points or less, you should win. The defense did a great job.
"I was also real pleased with the way we responded on the last two possessions. It was something we had to do to win. We did a lot of growing up."
The Highlanders' fantastic finish erased Klein kicker Lance Parks' 30-yard field goal with 2:04 remaining that had tied the game at 10-10. Parks' kick pulled the Bearkats even after the Highlanders' Derek Depasquale had drilled a 22-yard field goal with 6:22 left in the game to put TW on top.
The Highlanders' Austin Hutson ran the opening kickoff back 96 yards for an apparent score, with the play called back because of a block in the back. The infraction was just a minor setback for the Highlanders, who then went 47 yards in nine plays, eight on the ground, with Chris Burns toting the pigskin six times for 40 yards, including the final three feet that put The Woodlands in the end zone at the 9:10 mark of the first quarter.
From there, the rest of the half was a series of defensive highlights for both the Highlanders and the Bearkats. Klein held TWHS to just 73 first-half yards, while the Bearkats managed just 105 yards over the first two quarters of play despite dominating time of possession 14:30-9:30.
TW's Kirby Smith blitzed Klein QB Huntley Grichor on the Bearkats' first series and netted one of several sacks on the night, a 10-yard loss that forced a punt.
TW's Ryan Montague would come up with a nifty 17-yard leaping catch on the Highlanders' next possession, but the Bearkats would hold tight after that.
Klein would go on an impressive 15-play, 71-yard drive that drained 7:39 off the clock early in the second quarter, using a power running attack. TW looked to have stalled the drive when Taylor Charbonnet defended Zach Grichor and forced an incompletion on third-and-3 at the 26, but the Bearkats' Horace Gibson then ran 16 yards on a quick pitch right to the 10. Two plays later, Grichor weaved his way into the end zone. Parks' PAT tied things at 7-7 with 3:37 left in the half.
Blake Hinton's sack of Grichor for a six-yard loss stalled the final drive of the half for the Bearkats.
Smith garnered a tackle for a four-yard loss of Gibson on the first play of the second half, then TW's Taylor Skaufel sacked Grichor on third-and-14, forcing a punt.
After the Highlanders went three-and-out, Klein took over at its 29 and marched into Highlander territory to the 44. On third-and-six, Grichor's threw to Zach Grichor, but the ball was broken up by Charbonnet and intercepted by Skaufel at the 44.
Klein began to drive late in the third and had the ball at midfield to open the final quarter. Two plays later, Gibson was hit hard by a pair of defenders, with Thomas Eakin recovering at the Highlander 47.
The big play ignited the Highlanders, who then used the running of Jamarcus Haywood (5 carries, 43 yards) to get in position for Depasquale's 22-yard field goal with 6:22 left.
Klein would then move quickly downfield and looked to have a TD when Gibson broke tackles and sprinted toward the end zone. However, Charbonnet was there to make a saving tackle at the 13. Back-to-back tackles for no gain by Smith and Raymond Cleboski forced the Bearkats to try a 30-yard field goal that Parks barely got past a diving Charbonnet to tie things up with 2:04 remaining.
That led to the exciting finish, with Haywood starting things off with an eight-yard run, followed by passes of 19 yards to Matt Bova on a deep out and 12 yards to Aaron Gray on the right sideline. Two plays later, Parsons connected with Bova again, this time for 25 yards over the middle to the Bearkat 21. On the next play, Grote ran a fade pattern to the right flag and Parsons threw the ball on a perfect arch for the winning touchdown.
Klein would get the ball to the TWHS 47 on its final drive, but Van Mark Romero would sack Grichor in the final few seconds and the Bearkats couldn't get another play off.