On a night with deep meaning for Kerrville and Kerr County, Tivy High School’s football team came out fast on Friday night, held on through some ragged stretches in the third quarter, and ultimately rolled to a 41-20 over Del Rio season-opening victory in front of a near-capacity home crowd at Antler Stadium.

Quarterback Collin Rose led the Antlers by throwing for two touchdowns and running for a 69-yard score in the fourth quarter that sealed the win in coach Curtis Neill’s debut at Tivy.

“I absolutely love it for our kids,” Neill said.

The pre-game festivities, which included a flyover by Texas National Guard helicopters that were heavily involved in rescuing people during the July 4 flood, helped draw a large crowd of dignitaries, elected officials, and first responders. However, the game was delayed nearly 30 minutes as lightning moved through the area.

When it did start, Tivy wasted little time electrifying the crowd when senior running back Steven Collier raced 54 yards on the opening play to put the ball on the Del Rio 21-yard line. Five players later, Aiden Zavala scored from 10 yards out, one of three touchdowns for the junior running back.

On its next possession, Rose found Zavala for a 2-yard passing score that capped a 17-play, 87-yard drive. The only downside for the Antlers was that it was a drive besieged by penalties.

“We’re going to work on personal fouls,” Neill said. “That’s uncharacteristic for us.”

The Antlers had nine penalties for 90 yards, but three were personal fouls. Neill suggested it was more of a product of the first game’s excitement. An illegal man downfield call cost the Antlers a spectacular catch and run score by senior receiver President Calamaco, who erupted for a 69-yard catch that was negated. Still, Calamaco was impressive with 10 catches for 115 yards and a 25-yard scoring catch that helped the Antlers to build a 21-0 lead with 10:39 left in the first half.

Del Rio started to claw its way back in the third quarter after scoring a late first-half score to cut Tivy’s halftime lead to 21-7. Del Rio scored on its second and third possessions of the third quarter to cut Tivy’s lead to 24-20, but the Antlers answered with a 50-yard kick return by Brodie Dale that helped set up the last of Zavala’s three touchdowns.

With 6:59 left in the game, Jake Zirkel connected on a 22-yard field goal to give the Antlers a 34-20 boost. Zirkel converted on a 37-yard field goal earlier in the half and he made all five extra points.

Rose finished the game 24-of-30 passing with 222 yards. The Antlers rolled up 522 yards of total offense, dominating the game time of possession by running 70 plays against the Rams.

Tivy hits the road next week to face Comal Davenoport in a non-district matchup.

In other games:
Crystal City 46, Ingram Tom Moore 26
Center Point 21, Pettus 13
Comfort 43, Bracketville 19
Harper 36, D’Hanis 8