Whew!
Pardon me while I catch my breath after trying to keep up with the offensive fireworks in Kerrville Tivy’s stirring 39-34 victory over Madison on Friday night.
Billed as a duel between Tivy quarterback Johnny Manziel and Madison running back Aaron Green, the game at Comalander Stadium was that and much more.
Manziel frustrated the Mavericks with his uncanny ability as a playmaker, completing 41 of 75 passes for 503 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for 78 yards and two TDs.
Madison drove from its 39 to the Tivy 5 on its last possession, but the march ground to a halt after a delay-of-game penalty on third-and-goal moved the Mavs back to the 10. Two subsequent passes into the end zone fell incomplete, giving the Antlers the ball back with 13 seconds left.
“Our defense played well,” Tivy coach Mark Smith said.
Tivy improved to 2-0 and Madison slipped to 1-1.
“It was just what I expected,” Mavs coach Jim Streety said. “Johnny Manziel is special. He’s a great player. Our defense made some stops in the second half, but we didn’t take advantage of some opportunities. We needed a game like this. It will help us later in the season.”
Manziel, who committed to Oregon in June, will visit Texas A&M this weekend after being offered a scholarship by the Aggies on Monday.
A&M quarterback coach Tom Rossley and inside linebackers coach Dat Nguyen watched Friday night’s game from the sideline.
“I really want to go to A&M to check out things,” Manziel said.
Manziel’s parents talked about their son’s recruitment after the game.
“We’ll support him wherever he goes, but it would be a lot less stressful if he stayed in Texas,” Michelle Manziel said. “He’s got a fan base in Texas and they’d like to see him stay in the state.”
Paul Manziel said he will be interested to hear whether A&M will allow Johnny to continue his baseball career there. Oregon football coach Chip Kelly has told Johnny that he will allow him to play baseball.
“That’s a big thing for Johnny,” Paul Manziel said.
Johnny threw scoring strikes of 5, 12, 45 and 30 yards, the last two to wide receiver Kason Fornes. Manziel also ran for 12-yard TD.
A crowd of 4,696 watched the teams combined for 1,134 yards in total offense – 584 by the Antlers and 550 by Madison.
The Mavs lost despite Green and fullback Troy Williams each rushing for more than 200 yards. Green finished with 217 yards on 22 carries and two TDs, and Williams ran 16 times for 209 yards and two TDs.
Still, it wasn’t enough to offset Manziel’s sterling performance.
“I love this kind of game,” Manziel said. “It doesn’t get better than this. Both teams came out and played hard. Madison has an outstanding team. We had a lot of guys step up and play well tonight.”
His coach concurred.
“No doubt, Johnny and Aaron and even Troy Williams are going to get their yardage,” Smith said. “The key is getting some of the other guys to raise their game. We got that tonight from several players.”
One of those was junior wide receiver Kason Fornes, who finished with 10 receptions for 213 yard and the two TDs. His second scoring reception gave Tivy a 36-26 lead with 6:06 left.
But Green, who has been slowed by a sore ankle, kept Madison in the game with an 85-yard TD run on the second play of the Mavs’ next possession. Justin Jones’ pass to Homer Olveda on the two-point conversion cut the Antlers’ lead to 36-34.
Tivy capped its next possession with a 36-yard field goal by Will Cowden, putting Tivy ahead 39-34 with 3:18 left.
Green and Manziel hugged each other after the game and spoke briefly.
“I love that guy,” Manziel said. “He’s a great competitor. He just congratulated me and wished me luck for the rest of the season.”
