The Corpus Christi Calallen Wildcats might want to consider a new nickname for themselves, maybe the Ball Hogs. And in this context, there would be nothing wrong with that re-branding.
The visiting Wildcats held onto the football for 33 minutes, 43 seconds in a 48-minute game against Tivy. Holding onto something that long usually means you're going to win, and that's what the Wildcats did on Friday night, 21-0.
On the second play from scrimmage a fumble had Tivy headed backwards on Friday.  |
Tivy's offense was non-existent. The Antlers mustered 55 yards of total offense. The running backs combined for negative-3 yards. When he wasn't running for his life, quarterback Jake Layton was 4-of-11 passing for 58 yards, with two interceptions.
The Antlers are now in the weird position of being 0-5 and heading into district play next week. This was the first home shutout loss since Boerne Champion did it in 2016. Now, the Antlers will try to right themselves on the road next week against 1-3 Lockhart.
The offense has sputtered in its last two outings. The Antlers were able to run just 30 offensive plays Friday. Punter Stephen Grocki punted five booming kicks to bail the Antlers out of repeated three-and-outs. That was the extent of the highlights.
And, yet, Tivy was very much in this football game against undefeated Calallen — a longtime Tivy playoffs nemesis. It was 6-0 at halftime, and Tivy's defense punished Wildcat runners on every play with big hits.
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Calallen scored on its second possession, but every yard was hard-fought.
However, the second half was when Calallen's runners started to wear Tivy down. Calallen controlled the ball for more than 18 minutes in the second half.
The Wildcats opened the second half with a workman-like 13-play 85-yard drive culminating in a 5-yard touchdown keeper by backup quarterback Bryce Burnett. A 2-point run by Epi Hinojosa boosted the lead to 14-0 with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
Calallen added another score on a 17-yard run by Luke Medina with 6:31 left in the game.
The Antlers looked like they would break the scoreless streak when Layton hit Desnic Houston with a 29-yard passing play. A Calallen personal foul added 15-yards and the Antlers were in the red zone, but an interception in the endzone ended the drive.
In its last two games against Calallen, the Antlers were outscored 49-0. Tivy has lost its last four meetings against the Wildcats.
THE BOX SCORE
Calallen 0 6 8 7
Tivy 0 0 0 0
Second-quarter
C — Hickmon 9 run (kick fail), 7:29
Third-quarter
C — Burnett 1 run (Hinojosa run), 4:35
Fourth-quarter
C — Medina 17 run (kick good), 6:31
TEAM STATS
First Downs
Calallen — 21
Tivy — 4
Rushing
Calallen — 58-285
Tivy — 16-(minus-3)
Passing
Calallen — 2-5-0 15
Tivy — 4-13-2 58
Fumbles-lost
Calallen — 0-0
Tivy — 2-1
Penalties
Calallen 8-85
Tivy — 3-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Calallen — Hinojosa 21-105, Hickmon 12-77, Medina 6-32, Salinas 3-25, Carpinello 6-15, Burnett 5-27, Rubio 3-8.
Tivy — Mayberry 5-5, Middleton 3-(minus-5), Layton 2-(minus-5), Lackey 4-5, Edmonds 2-(minus-3).
PASSING
Calallen — Hickmon 1-4-0 10, Burnett 1-1-0 5.
Tivy — Layton 4-11-2 58, Lackey 0-2-0 0
RECEIVING
Calallen — Rubio 1-5, Newell 1-10.
Tivy — Houston 3-51, Johnston 1-7.
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