PJ Hatter leads Klein Oak to next round of Playoffs

Cameron Young

December 15, 2020 @ 04:22 PM

The Klein Oak Panthers beat the Cy-Ranch Mustangs 30-6, this past Friday and are now poised to face the Spring Lions this week. Klein Oak came into the Ranch game as an underdog after dropping 4 games in a shortened season. Klein Oak rallied together for an important win against the Mustangs. Klein Oak used an unorthodox method of running the QB option with sophomore PJ Hatter. Hatter came off of the bench for 4 touchdowns on QB keeps! He went full throttle to the endzone and really impressed myself as a scout. He muscled his way into the endzone numerous times and used his vision and elusiveness to undermine the defensive strategy. Hatter came into the game after Jamal Stephens and [player_tooltip player_id="60824" first="Charles" last="Garrett"] started the game strong with Drew Berra, whom we all previewed. The Klein Oak player that shined was Hatter who may very well have cemented himself as a sophomore to watch going into junior year. He didn’t demonstrate any of his throwing skills much but the vast majority of his snaps were QB keeps mixed with fake jet sweeps. Hatter is a dual threat QB who is making his presence in the class of 2023 felt. Especially by stepping up humongous in the opening round of the playoffs. It was a tremendous effort and very exciting to watch this joker type of player come into the fold. Even Cy-Ranch tried to go back to senior QB [player_tooltip player_id="60612" first="DJ" last="Ciers"] in an attempt to predicate the QB option. The Klein Oak defense also stepped up big led by Gannon Tullos and Nathan Grychka. Tullos and Grychka were all over the field both picking up fumbles. They were able to stop sophomore QB Blake Barker and senior RB Kameron Burton. Klein Oak defense impressed with the use of their speed and aggressiveness to the football. They were very good in covering the field and Ranch’s rushing attack. I was impressed that a team with that few of wins was able to beat the 7 win team. Klein Oak will have a huge task in facing off against the Spring Lions’ offensive attack. Tullos at the DB position truly showed poise and confidence to shut down the passing lanes that Ranch was trying to exploit. Once they were able to stop the running game, they made sure to capitalize on offense. Berra, Stephens and Garrett maintained the game when Hatter was on the sidelines. Berra the senior is a good QB at recognizing the defensive scheme and setting up a good play to cash in on. Stephens and Garrett stayed true to their previews and ran very well. It’s important to note that the gameplan was focused on these 3 and Hatter was a complete surprise. The sophomore wasn’t the starter coming into the game. I believe now that there is film on him, the Spring Lions will have to gameplan specifically for him as the full time starter. Hatter has a certain Taysom Hill esque vibe to him and even wears number 7! It will be fun to watch the Klein Oak Panthers take on the Spring Lions this week, stay tuned on Prep Redzone!