Klein Collins, Spring Woods face off in district matchup

Taco Bell and Dave Campbell's Texas Football have teamed up to feature one must-see Texas high school football matchup each week in the Houston area. This week: Klein Collins vs. Houston Spring Woods, 7 p.m. Friday night at Klein Memorial Stadium.

After falling just a game short of the Class 6A DII state final last season, Klein Collins is off to another hot start this year. The Tigers have won five straight and boast a perfect 3-0 record in District 15-6A. Drew Svoboda’s team is ranked No. 6 in the TexasFootball.com Class 6A rankings after their most recent win – a 49-22 drubbing of Klein Forest. The Tigers have notable wins over No. 15 Houston Lamar and No. 11 Atascocita and appear to be well on their way to contending for a state title yet again. Klein Collins will host Houston Spring Woods in this week’s Taco Bell Road Tour showdown, marking in the teams’ latest matchup in district play. Spring Woods has struggled early in the season and is off to a 0-5 start after last week’s 37-0 loss to Houston Stratford. Klein Collins, which is averaging just over 34 points per game this season, utilizes a balanced offensive approach behind the play of junior quarterback Carter Rhyne (828 yards, 10 TDs), RB Isaiah Spiller (354 yards, 6 TDs) and RB Josh Powell (270 yards, 2 TDs). WR AJ Bennett has caught eight passes from Rhyne – five of which have gone for touchdowns. He had three catches for 76 yards and two scores in last week’s win. The Tigers’ defense is what will give Spring Woods the most trouble though, as the unit enters the week giving up an average of less than 11 points per game. Klein Collins held Atascocita scoreless in a dominant 41-0 win on Sept. 21, and the Eagles are averaging more than 54 points the last three weeks. Spring Woods’ goal will be to establish the running game behind David Barnes and Sunil Luguga, who combined to rush for 24 carries on 92 yards two weeks ago against Klein Forest. In last week’s game, Kevin Nowling Jr. completed eight passes for 58 yards. For Klein Collins, the game is about continuing to take strides toward reaching peak postseason form as November draws near. After losing 63-7 in the game last year, Spring Woods will be aiming for a more competitive finish this time around.