FOOTBALL: The Woodlands defeats Klein Oak 16-7, advance in playoffs

SHENANDOAH, Texas — The Woodlands football team rejoiced as they triumphed over Klein Oak 16-7 in the Bi-District Playoffs.

Watch the entire game on-demand here.

Watch the highlights here.

The game began in the Highlander’s favor with an early run for a touchdown by starting quarterback Eric Schmid. An interception for a Highlander first down would be capitalized with a successful field goal by Lucas Veith in the second quarter, bringing the halftime score to 10-0, Highlanders. Klein Oak returned in the third quarter with a touchdown, but the Highlanders answered back with another touchdown, bringing them to what would be their final game score, 16-7.

Schmid, who made huge contributions to the game, returned for the Highlanders after receiving an elbow injury in their game against Summer Creek.

“Eric brings a different dimension to the offense,” Head Coach Mark Schmid said. “He’s able to make things happen with his legs when things go down, and he did that tonight, so it was good to have him back.”

The Highlanders faced Klein Oak for the second year in a row in the bi-district round of playoffs, however, last year, the game did not go as well for them with seven turnovers. This time, Klein Oak had three turnovers on their game record, and The Woodlands were able to capitalize on their opponent’s mistakes. Schmid said Klein Oak comes from one of the best districts in Texas, and they couldn’t afford turnovers at this point in the season.

“These guys knocked us off last year, so we wanted to exact a little revenge and do the same thing to them this year,” Schmid said. “The kids were really focused, and we’re really proud of the way that we showed up to play.”

The Highlanders will play in the next round of playoffs in an afternoon game Saturday, November 21 at Bryan High School. Schmid said he wants his team to treat the playoffs as though it’s an entirely new season.

“We talked about how this was a second season for us. The district run was great, but now we have to ramp it up because everybody that we play are good people,” Schmid said. “They were qualifiers out of their district, so the competition gets stiffer which means we’ve got to get better.”