PEARLAND — It has been a year in the making, but the outcome was no different.

The Manvel Mavericks were pounded 56-14 in 2013 by the Katy Tigers. The focus then turned to 2014 with the Manvel coaches and players said that they wanted another shot declaring that the end results would be different in 2014.

At least that was the plan.

For Katy, Manvel is just another team on their way to another possible state championship. They so stated with a pre-game sign that the players ran through when they entered the field that in essence that Manvel doesn't matter.

Perhaps it was a little arrogance, maybe just cocky. Either way, the message was clear. Put up or shut up! That's the Katy way.

So far, the path that has Katy's attention is to face Cedar Hill in a re-match for the state title. That's the team that knocked off the Tigers last year and taunted them to boot.

For Manvel, it is back to the drawing board. The Mavs stayed in the game longer than they did last year, but they still came up short.

Someone said, "At least we didn't get beat by 42 like last year."

That may be true, but a loss is still a loss and though the Mavs lost by 28 this year, they also got pounded in the trenches.

There also was no answer to stop Oklahoma verbal-commit running back Rodney Anderson who shredded the Manvel defense for 302 yards including three scoring runs of 5, 80, and 72 yards.

Manvel had only 265 total yards in comparison.

The bright spot was that Manvel was still in the game with 9:00 left in the third quarter when junior RB D'Vaughn Pennamon found one of the few holes in the Katy defense for a 44-yard scoring jaunt to tie up the game at 17-17.

Katy led 17-10 at halftime.

Click to enlarge.

LEADING BALL CARRIER - Manvel junior D'Vaughn Pennamon (21) was the leading rusher for the Mavericks in the game against Katy. Pennamon scored on a 44-yard run and finished the game with 68 yards on seven carries. The Mavericks were ousted for the second straight year by the Tigers 45-17 in the Class 6A Region III Div. I finals. The Mavs finish with a 13-1 mark in 2014. (Photo by Lloyd Hendricks)

"I thought we played real well defensively in the first half," Manvel head coach Kirk Martin said. "We gave up a couple of big plays and offensively we didn't help them a whole lot and that's my fault."

That's when Katy put the hammer down and outscored Manvel 28-0 the rest of the way.

The Tigers also throttled junior quarterback Deriq King throughout the contest.

King came into the game as one of key offensive players putting up video-like numbers with 306 total yards per game including 241 yards passing.

Katy designed a defense to shut King down and aside from a couple of scrambling runs, including one for a 20-yard touchdown in the second quarter, the Tigers put a strangle-hold on the signal-caller including eight sacks.

The Katy coaching staff scouted Manvel in their two previous playoff games and designed a defense to stayed in their rushing lanes with a shadow assigned to go wherever King went. The design was to make him come to them instead of trying to chase him down.

"It was a situation where they did a good job of scheming us and spied our QB all night," Martin said. "They got good pressure on us up front. It just wasn't our night.

It worked to almost perfection as King managed hitting only 16-of-31 passing for 127 yards and no TD. He was bottled up on 15 carries for a meager 54 yards (3.6 per carry) and one score.

Pennamon had 68 yards on seven carries with one tote for 44 yards and a TD.

Highly regarded wide receiver Gary Haynes caught seven passes for only 29 yards. Austin Alexis snagged three for 30 and Sean Dykes added two catches for 46 yards.

Katy finished the game with 453 total yards and averaged almost a first down with every attempt on the ground.

The Tigers (13-1) will face Cibolo Steele (13-1) in the state semifinals. The semifinal is scheduled for 4 p.m. Dec. 13 at NRG Stadium.

For Katy, it's their sixth region title since 2007. Katy has three state championships (2007-08, 2012) during the stretch and played for two others (2009, 2013).

"We just have to stay the course, keep fighting, and keep getting after it in the off-season," Martin summed up the game. It's been an amazing run these past two years. We've got to get over this hump and win this thing."