KLEIN, TX - The Klein High football team accomplished the improbable -- advancing to the Class 5A, Division II state semifinals where they lost to eventual state champion, Abilene, 29-21, in Waco.
The Bearkats (11-3) were recently honored as the US Army Strong/Texas Football Magazine Class 5A Football Team of the Year.
The team will have a pep rally at 2 p.m. next Wednesday; the pep rally will also honor the KHS swimmers and wrestlers who qualified for the state championships on Feb. 26-27 in Austin.
The KHS football team improved from 4-5 (and a first round playoff loss) in 2008 to 11-3 and the state semifinals last fall.
For the third straight year, TexasFootball.com is proud to partner with the U.S. Army for the Army Strong Team of the Year at the conclusion of each Texas high school football season.
Each year, TexasFootball.com and the U.S. Army join together to select one team from every classification in high school football that demonstrated the qualities exhibited within the Army those include leadership, commitment to excellence and a desire to make a difference as a member of a team. Each is awarded the Army Strong Team of the Year by local officials from the U.S. Army at a school assembly or pep rally.
Class 5A: Klein
The Klein Bearkats were a surprise team in the 2009 Class 5A-Division II playoffs, running off an impressive four-game playoff winning streak to reach the state semifinals before finally falling to eventual state champion Abilene. With three regular-season losses, Klein needed help from district tiebreakers just to qualify for the 2009 playoffs. But once they got there, the Bearkats served notice right away that they were a team to be reckoned with when they knocked off powerhouse Lufkin in the first round. Led by star running back Dekota Barnes, Klein then knocked off Cypress Ridge, South Garland and John Tyler to emerge as the Region II champion. A narrow 29-21 loss to Abilene ended the Bearkats 2009 run with an 11-4 record, but not before they had notified the rest of the state that they are a program to keep an eye on in 2010 and beyond.
