Texas: La Porte's Perkins can't stay away from football

Look out, Greater Houston. Perhaps the area's best senior running back has returned to the gridiron.

La Porte senior Kendrick Perkins, the two-sport star who had originally decided to sit out the football season and concentrate on baseball, couldn't keep himself off the football field and made a triumphant return for the Bulldogs on Friday. In a 42-14 win over Channelview, Perkins carried 21 times for 222 yards and four touchdowns.

"It was very tough," Perkins told the Houston Chronicle. "I wasn’t used to it. I didn’t like the feeling of going home every day and not having anything to do. I missed the game."

Perkins, who ran for 1,762 yards and 25 touchdowns while leading La Porte to the Class 5A Division II state quarterfinals in 2008, had a solid summer on the diamond, and committed to Texas A&M to play baseball, but also suffered a quadriceps injury that sidelined him.



A week before the start of fall practice, he informed head football coach Jeff LaReau that he would skip the football season and only play baseball, where he is a potential Major League Baseball draft prospect.

After sitting in the stands for the Bulldogs' season-opening game, Perkins quickly realized that he still wanted to be out there with his teammates. He approached LaReau, who gave Perkins conditions that he had to meet in order to return.

Perkins obliged and before you knew it, he was off the sidelines and back on the field. And the Bulldogs' (1-1) season just got a lot more interesting.

San Antonio's Alamodome selected to host title games

By all accounts, Reliant Stadium - home of the NFL's Houston Texans - did a stellar job of hosting the Texas Class 5A state football championship games in 2008. However, they won't be returning to Houston in 2009.

Reliant Stadium was a finalist but was not chosen as the host site for the title games, as they will return to the Alamodome in San Antonio on Dec. 19. The Division I title game will be at 2 p.m. and the Division II title game will be at 7 p.m.

The University Interscholastic League, the governing body of high school sports in Texas, had originally hoped to host the games at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, but a North Carolina-Texas NCAA basketball game will be played there on the day of the championship games.

The Alamodome was the UIL's original host site when it began choosing a single site for both Class 5A championship games in 2006. The Alamodome hosted in 2006 and 2007 before Reliant Stadium hosted in 2008.

"We went through the bid process and the Alamodome had the best bid," UIL athletic director Cliff Odenwald said. "We had a great time at Reliant and I can't say enough about (executive sales manager) Justin White and the staff at Reliant Stadium.

"We were going to try to go to the new stadium in Dallas but (an ability to do so) kind of broke the rotation that was originally proposed by the championship committee."

More than 40,000 fans combined showed up for the two championship games last year, as Katy defeated Wylie 17-3 in the Division II title and Allen defeated Hightower 21-14 in the Division I title.

Houston's best hold serve

After a couple of weeks of movement at the top of the Class 5A area rankings, each of the top six ranked teams in Greater Houston came away victorious in Week 2.

The area's top-ranked team, The Woodlands, held off Clear Lake 35-27. Once again, the Highlanders fed off the legs of junior superstar running back Daniel Lasco, who carried 18 times for 187 yards and two touchdowns.

No. 2 Hightower (2-0) came off an open date to cruise by Kempner 29-7. The Hurricanes' stout defense, led by Oklahoma State commit Shaun Lewis, was solid as usual, but the biggest story may have been the emergence of sophomore athlete Bralon Addison. Addison, a receiver, return specialist and the team's backup quarterback, carried the ball eight times for 142 yards and a touchdown. His combination of speed, quickness and vision was dazzling, and he could be a player to watch in Greater Houston for years to come.

No. 3 Katy knocked off an out-of-state foe, Bellevue (Wash.), 35-17. It was the second time in as many years that the Tigers have defeated an out-of-state team. Last year, Katy defeated Weston (Fla.) Cypress Bay 31-6.

The Tigers (2-1) used a strong defense and the combination of running backs Will Jeffery (14 carries, 80 yards, TD) and Vernon Jeffries (20 carries, 108 yards, 3 TDs) to defeat the Wolverines, who were nationally ranked in two polls.

No. 4 North Shore cruised by Cypress Falls 48-10. The Mustangs (2-1), who lost to Katy to open the season (thus ending their state-record 78-game regular season winning streak), have bounced back to win two in a row and take on La Marque this week before a Sept. 26 showdown with state power Southlake Carroll.

No. 5 Klein Forest, perhaps the biggest surprise team of the season so far, blew by Aldine 49-22. The Golden Eagles (3-0) failed to hit 50 for the first time this season but continue to average more than half-a-hundred (53.3 points per game). Coach Ken Hammock said that this may be his most talented group of offensive players since he began coaching at Klein Forest. Running the show is a sophomore dual-threat quarterback, Matt Davis.

Davis threw for 133 yards and a touchdown and ran for 145 yards and two more scores in the win. His combination of size, speed and throwing ability makes him one of the best young quarterbacks in Greater Houston.

Finally, No. 6 Cinco Ranch continued its strong start with a 39-25 win over Cypress Ridge. Junior running back K.C. Nlemchi (pronounced Lem-CHEE) continues to impress for the Cougars (3-0), running for 218 yards and four touchdowns in the win. For the season, Nlemchi has 52 carries for 531 yards (10.2 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns.

A shuffled deck in Class 4A

While Houston's top 5A teams did well, the area's top 10 in Class 4A wasn't as fortunate. Five of the area's top 10 teams fell in Week 2 but all of them fell to Class 5A competitors.

Former No. 2 Brenham dropped a 36-14 decision to Lamar, while former No. 3 Friendswood dropped a 28-18 decision to Brazoswood. All three ranked teams in District 23-4A also fell: No. 5 Terry (21-6 to Katy Taylor), No. 7 Lamar Consolidated (28-21 to Pasadena Memorial) and No. 9 Foster (23-0 to Seven Lakes).

Keep an eye on Cypress Woods

One of the most notable wins over the weekend was Cypress Woods' 56-23 win over Klein Oak. Coming into the season, Klein Oak (0-3) was considered to be one of the area's top teams but has started slowly. The Panthers dropped a game to Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame 37-7 on Labor Day at Cowboys Stadium in the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series, then had to make a short turnaround to get ready for one of the top District 15-5A teams just five days later.

Cypress Woods took full advantage. Junior quarterback Colton Huntsman was phenomenal, accounting for 501 total yards and eight touchdowns in the win. Huntsman was 16-of-27 passing for 430 yards and four touchdowns and ran 16 times for 71 yards and four more scores to earn Houston Chronicle Player of the Week honors.

The Wildcats (2-0) travel to Tully Stadium to take on Stratford before beginning district play. It is just the Wildcats' second season of varsity play. Last year, they advanced to the Class 5A Division I Region II semifinals and posted an 8-3 mark in their first season as a varsity squad.

Top Performers of the week

- Quandre Diggs (Angleton football) - The junior quarterback/defensive back did just about everything but sell popcorn in the Wildcats' 50-38 win over Hastings. Diggs had 18 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown, was 2-of-8 passing for 47 yards and a score, blocked two point-after-touchdown attempts (returning one 90 yards for two points), punted five times for 171 yards (34.2 yard average), returned a kick 18 yards and had an interception on defense.

- Marissa Collins (Pearland volleyball) - The senior outside hitter had 22 kills on Tuesday in a five-game win over Memorial and 12 kills on Friday in a sweep over Pasadena.

- Leroy Dobbins (Montgomery football): The junior running back had 310 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries in the Bears' 31-17 win over Kingwood Park on Friday.

On deck

- The football game of the week will be in west Houston as Cypress Woods takes on Stratford at Tully Stadium. Both teams are unbeaten thus far (2-0) and both have high-powered offenses. Whoever wins the quarterback battle between Cypress Woods' Colton Huntsman and Stratford's Mark Benninger will likely determine who comes out on top.

- Another football game worth watching will be North Shore vs. La Marque at Etheredge Stadium in La Marque. It won't be as high-profile as it would have been had the programs met earlier in the decade but it pits two of Greater Houston's most successful programs against each other. North Shore won a Class 5A Division I championship in 2003 and held a state-record 78-game regular-season winning streak (which ended in August) while La Marque has won two Class 4A Division II titles since 2003 and have five total in their history.

- One of the top volleyball games to keep an eye on is the battle between Klein Oak (16-9) and Tomball (17-8). Both are 2-0 in District 13-5A play and the winner will grab sole possession of first place in the district.

Recruiting news

Yates guard Joseph Young, who was the MVP of the Class 4A state championship game in March, has verbally committed to Providence. It was a bit of a surprise because his father, Michael Young, is director of basketball operations at the University of Houston and hoped that Joseph would become a Cougar, but Joseph made his intentions clear after a visit to Providence earlier this month....Bellaire guard Jamel Outler has verbally committed to Texas Tech. The 6-foot-3, 173-pound Outler had six other offers but chose Tech over TCU...The Woodlands standout junior running back Daniel Lasco will most assuredly be one of the top backs in the nation in the Class of 2011. Sept. 1 was the first day he could receive official offers and he has received five since then from Houston, Miami, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

Sam Khan Jr. is a reporter who covers Greater Houston area high school sports for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach him at sam.khan@chron.com.