By LONNIE KING  |  © 2025, Big Daddy’s Texas Sports

If season openers are supposed to be tune-ups, somebody forgot to tell Cy-Fair and Klein Cain. What unfolded Friday night was less about knocking off rust and more about two heavyweights trading haymakers until the final horn. In the end, Cy-Fair quarterback Sean Riegler threw five touchdown passes, and the Bobcats survived a last-second two-point try to escape with a 49–48 win.

Riegler Sets the Tone

Every time Klein Cain threw a punch, Riegler had an answer. The junior QB completed 22 of 34 passes for 379 yards and five touchdowns, spreading the wealth to his trio of main targets. Chase Sanders caught five balls for 115 yards and three scores, Henry Brooks grabbed seven for 111 and two touchdowns, and Kevin Ferrygood chipped in six receptions for 108 yards.

That kind of balance is a defensive coordinator’s nightmare. “Pick your poison” would have been a fair scouting report.

Yates Sparks Cain

If Riegler was Cy-Fair’s star, Max Yates owned the spotlight for Klein Cain. He opened the night by taking the kickoff 86 yards to the end zone and finished with 14 catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns. He was, in every sense, the go-to guy.

Quarterback Zach Johnson kept feeding him — and with good reason. Johnson was sharp, hitting 24 of 33 passes for 254 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, while also running for a short score. Late in the fourth, he found Cooper Karns for a 15-yard touchdown to pull Cain within a point.

Klein Cain also got a lift from the ground game: Eyan Johnson averaged 6.5 yards per carry on his way to 71 yards, and Jah’Rin Louis chipped in 59 and a first-quarter touchdown run.

The Run Game That Quietly Mattered

While Riegler’s arm drew the headlines, Cy-Fair’s ground game quietly shaped the second half. Arnell Fontenot was the workhorse, finishing with 136 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. More telling, though, is when he did his damage: 127 of those yards came after halftime, on 17 bruising carries that helped the Bobcats control the clock when every possession felt like life or death.

Meanwhile, backup QB LaMichael Myles, who got some strategic snaps in both halves, added 42 rushing yards and a short touchdown. His presence gave the Bobcats a different look at key moments and helped extend drives just long enough to keep Klein Cain’s offense waiting on the sideline.

By the end, Cy-Fair had nearly 600 yards of total offense, split almost evenly between Riegler’s passing and the steady balance of its run game.

The Deciding Moments

The game had the feel of “last score wins” from the first quarter, when the teams combined for 35 points. Cy-Fair led 21–14 after one, the teams were tied 28–28 at half, and 35–35 entering the fourth.

Riegler’s 41-yard strike to Sanders late in the fourth gave the Bobcats a 49–42 edge, but Johnson’s touchdown pass to Karns pulled Cain within one with only seconds remaining. That’s when Hurricanes head coach James Clancy faced the choice: send out reliable kicker Noah Ballard for the tie, or go win it right then and there.

Conventional wisdom says you kick at home and gamble on the road. But it was Week 1, not a district contest, and Clancy was sending a message — to his team and to the packed stands — that he believed they could finish the job. Johnson’s two-point attempt to Deaunte Barr just missed, and Cy-Fair exhaled.

Had it been a district game, maybe the decision is different. Still, the cliché applied: neither team deserved to lose. And given the array of offensive weapons on both sidelines, neither team figures to lose too many this fall.

• Teams Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT FINAL
• CY-FAIR     21 7 7 14   49
• KLEIN CAIN   14 14 7 13   48

• Scoring  
• Q1
• KC – MAX YATES 86 YD KICKOFF RETURN (NOAH BALLARD KICK) 0-7
• CF – SEAN RIEGLER 26 YD PASS TO CHASE SANDERS  (WYLEY MALLORY KICK)
  • 4 PLAYS – 88 YARDS 7-7
• KC – JAH’RIN LOUIS 25 YD RUN (BALLARD KICK)
  • 7 PLAYS – 82 YARDS 7-14
• CF – RIEGLER 11 YD PASS TO HENRY BROOKS (MALLORY KICK)
  • 9 PLAYS – 89 YARDS 14-14
• CF – RIEGLER 23 YD PASS TO SANDERS (MALLORY KICK)
  • 5 PLAYS – 65 YARDS 21-14
• Q2
• KC – ZACH JOHNSON 11 YD PASS TO YATES (BALLARD KICK)
  • 12 PLAYS – 50 YARDS 21-21
• CF – RIEGLER 5 YD PASS TO BROOKS (MALLORY KICK)
  • 11 PLAYS – 70 YARDS 28-21
• KC JAIDEN PACHECO 28 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (BALLARD KICK) 28-28
• Q3
• CF – ARNELL FONENOT 1 YD RUN (MALLORY KICK)
  • 10 PLAYS –  70 YARDS 35-28
• KC – Z JOHNSON 3 YD RUN (BALLARD KICK)
  • 9 PLAYS – 99 YARDS 35-35
• Q4
• CF – LAMICHAEL MYLES 1 YD RUN (MALLORY KICK)
  • 13 PLAYS –  87 YARDS 42-35
• KC – Z JOHNSON 22 YD PASS TO YATES (BALLARD KICK)
  • 9 PLAYS – 50 YARDS 42-42
• CF – RIEGLER 41 YD PASS TO SANDERS (MALLORY KICK)
  • 3 PLAYS – 52 YARDS 49-42
• KC – Z JOHNSON 15 YD PASS TO COOPER KARNS (2-PT CONVERSION FAILED)
  • 7 PLAYS – 35 YARDS 49-48