Location: Katy, Texas

Enrollment: 2,678

District and Class: Katy competes in the state’s largest classification, 5A. Region III, District 17 (of 32 statewide) which includes the five other high schools in Katy: Cinco Ranch, Mayde Creek, Taylor, Morton Ranch and Seven Lakes. The top four schools in the 17-5A standings after round-robin play advance to the playoffs; two schools with largest enrollments advance to the 64-team Div. I bracket and two remaining schools advance to the 64-team Div. II bracket.

State Association: University Interscholastic League. The UIL’s 5A Football Finals for both the Div. I and II state championship games will be held Saturday, December 19, likely in Arlington at the new stadium home to the Dallas Cowboys.

Head Coach: Gary Joseph. One of the top defensive minds in coaching, the 48-year old Joseph enters the 2009 season with a head coaching mark of 68-7 – all with the Tigers. Joseph served as the defensive coordinator under long-time Katy coach Mike Johnston, before Johnston ‘retired’ in 2004 and eventually moved over to serve as head football coach at Houston Christian. Joseph was an assistant at Austin Westlake, Freeport Brazosport and Luling before a 22-year stay under Johnston as an assistant coach.

Nickname: Tigers

Colors: Red and White

Home Stadium: Rhodes Stadium, which has seating for nearly 10,000 fans. A grassy hill in the south end zone can accommodate an additional 2,500 spectators.

Motto: When excellence becomes tradition, greatness has no limits.

2009 Opener: Katy will open its season hosting Galena Park North Shore on Saturday, August 29, followed by another home game against The Woodlands. Last fall, a narrow 10-6 loss to North Shore was followed by a stunning 47-0 shutout at The Woodlands – one of the worst losses in the history of the school’s football program.

2008 Record: 13-3 as Class 5A, Div. II state champions. The title victory in Reliant Stadium was 17-3 over Wylie.

History: The Tigers have won six state championships: 1959, ‘97, 2000, ‘03, ‘07 and ‘08, and have been state runner-up on four occasions, in 1994, ‘98, ‘99 and 2005. Katy has won 23 district championships and 11 regional championships, and have not had a losing season since 1985. Their playoff winning percentage ranks second in 5A history behind Converse Judson, at 66-15 (.815) dating back to 1980. Katy’s overall record, dating back to 1939, is a stout 441-262-18.

Pipeline: The most notable is San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Eric Heitmann, who garnered All-American honors at Stanford in 1997. Headlining the team’s four all-state players from 2007 is running back Aundre Dean, who is at UCLA.

2009 Headliners:

Notable: Katy’s only out-of-state matchup prior to Bellevue has been a 31-6 triumph over Weston (Fla.) Cypress Bay last season. Cypress Bay, which plays at 6A as one of the nation’s largest high schools, did not lose another regular-season game and finished 11-2. Katy became the 11th Texas high school to win at least six state championships last December. The other 10 include: Celina (eight); Plano, Southlake Carroll and Brownwood (seven each); and Abilene, Converse Judson, Odessa Permian, Wichita Falls, Waco and Breckenridge (six).