The Herald-Zeitung

KERRVILLE — Tivy’s Michael McKenzie first saw the route, then the ball, then his chance to put Tivy back into the District 27-4A playoff discussion.

“(The receiver) was in front of me and I just broke on the ball, caught it, saw that opening and took it running as fast as I could, trying to get that touchdown — and I got it.” McKenzie said.

The Tivy senior returned the interception, one of two on the day, 75 yards to fuel the Antlers in a 38-16 win over New Braunfels Canyon on Friday at Antler Stadium.

Tivy (3-3, 3-1) coach Mark Smith, who passed Donnie Laurence for the Antlers’ all-time win record with 66, was proud of the way his team responded following last week’s loss at San Marcos.

“For as bad as we played last week, we found a way to rebound,” Smith said. “It’s a test. How we handled the adversity with what happened last week, how we rebound is a testimony to our kids.”

On the Canyon (3-4, 2-2 ) sideline, coach Les Davis could only watch as the third-quarter interception gave Tivy 24 unanswered points and a 24-7 lead.

“The read was there to go with the other route — the quarterback (Lane Fife) just tried to make a play,” Davis said. “He thought he could get it in there, but he just didn’t make it happen.”

Tivy’s Johnny Manziel finished the game 22-of-35 passing with 290 yards and a touchdown. The junior also rushed for 88 yards with a pair of touchdowns.

The Cougars were led by Fife, who finished the game 29-of-45 passing with 190 yards, but also threw three second-half interceptions.

“I don’t really think we played very well,” Davis said. “We had opportunities in the first half offensively we didn’t take advantage of, but that’s part of it, we’ve done that all year.”

The Antlers were out of sync early on offense as two snaps over the head of Manziel and a handful of dropped passes kept Tivy from sustaining a drive.

The second snap over Manziel’s head forced the Antlers to punt from their own 2-yard line, which gave the Cougars starting field position at Tivy’s 14-yard line. Canyon scored the game’s first touchdown two plays later on an 11-yard pass from Fife to Alex Lawrence. The extra point from Crispean Maldonado put the Cougars up 7-0 with 1:07 to play in the first quarter.

After two punts and a turnover on downs in the first quarter, the Antlers turned things around on offense in the second. Starting from its own 4-yard line, Tivy pieced together a 15-play scoring drive to even up the game at 7-7. Manziel converted two fourth downs — one on a 15-yard pass to Braedon White, another on a 2-yard run — and Sonny Guzardo capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Meanwhile, the Antlers’ defense fought to keep the Cougars out of the end zone despite playing much of the half on their end of the field. Tivy forced a pair of three-and-outs before defensive lineman Brian Sherman jumped on a Fife fumble at midfield, giving the Antlers possession with 21 seconds to play in the half.

With passes of 21 and 24 yards to White and Mikhail Ironside, Tivy was at Canyon’s 5-yard line with 11 seconds to go in the half. After a Manziel pass into the end zone fell incomplete, Tyler Thompson put the Antlers ahead 10-7 with a 22-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

Ironside went into the locker room with 10 catches for 85 yards. The senior finished the game with 14 grabs, 142 yards and a touchdown.

After forcing Canyon into a three-and-out to start the half, the Antlers extended their lead on a 6-yard rushing touchdown by Manziel. The score put Tivy ahead 17-7 with 7:05 to play in the third quarter.

Following McKenzie’s interception return for touchdown, the Cougars went 72 yards in 10 plays, but only came away with a field goal from Maldonado to show for it.

A 3-yard rushing touchdown by Manziel put Tivy ahead 31-10, providing a comfortable margin to start the fourth quarter.