The Pieper Warriors are trying to establish a winning tradition.
The Kerrville Tivy Antlers are trying to restore their winning tradition.
These teams meet Friday night at the Warrior Coliseum in a crucial game in the 13-5A-DII playoff race.
Pieper (1-4, 1-0 in District) opened last year and began varsity football play this season. Not only did they start their program with no seniors, not only were they aligned into a predictably challenging district, but the Warriors took on a ferocious non-district schedule. All their non-district opponents have at least 4 wins, and three (Wimberley, Davenport, Hallettsville) are in the top 6 in their region in the Padilla Poll.
The grind prepared them for their district opener, which proved to be the program’s first win: a 30-21 victory at Bastrop on September 23rd. Evan Drake and Nathan Martinez each caught a touchdown pass for Pieper. John Hamilton carried the ball 23 times for 92 yards, and Jackson Hopper contributed an interception.
Kerrville Tivy (2-4, 0-2 in District) is looking for a rebound. The Antlers made the playoffs 23 years in a row from 1997 to 2019, including David Jones’s first eight years as the head coach. Along the way, Tivy made the state semifinals once (2008), the fourth round five times (2002, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2014), and the third round eight times (2000, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018.) Since the pandemic shutdown began, however, Tivy has missed the playoffs each of the last two years, going 2-7 in 2020 and 1-9 in 2021. The Antlers’ two wins this year match their highest total in a season since 2019.
Tivy split their four non-district games, sandwiching wins against Medina Valley and Marble Falls around 31-28 losses to Davenport and Fredericksburg. They opened district play with a 63-6 loss at defending state finalist Liberty Hill before suffering a 30-27 home defeat against Bastrop. After four lead changes, Tivy led 27-20 in the fourth quarter before the Bears scored 10 points in the final 1:38 to win. James Ramon’s 34 yard field goal with 7 seconds left provided the winning margin. Bastrop won the turnover battle 3-0.
The Tivy offense, as is typical of David Jones teams, is productive. Kale Lackey has 1164 yards passing and 303 yards rushing. Five Antler receivers have between 12 and 19 receptions.
With San Antonio Veterans Memorial (4-1, 1-0) and Lockhart (4-2, 1-1), Tivy finds itself in a must win situation as they attempt to end their playoff drought. Pieper has SA Veterans, Lockhart, and Liberty Hill (5-1, 2-0) remaining on the schedule; even with a 1-0 district record, Pieper faces a similar urgency as they seek a playoff berth in their inaugural varsity season.
Mark Kusenberger
September 25, 2022
Read more from Mark on his blog at https://mkusenberger.wixsite.com/website/blog