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Cedar Park Makes It Four in a Row vs Kerrville Tivy

photo: Steve Thomas

Timberwolves Rout Antlers to advance to Regional Semi-Finals

For the fourth consecutive year, the Cedar Park Timberwolves faced the Kerrville Tivy Antlers in the UIL 5A Division 2 (formerly 4A Division 2) playoffs. In 2012 and 2013, the Timberwolves defeated the Antlers in the Area round and then in the quarterfinal round last year. This year the teams met again in the Area round with both teams undefeated at 11-0.

While the two teams seemed evenly matched early on, Cedar Park ultimately pulled away for a 49-14 victory. Defensively, the Timberwolves made several key plays including two interceptions by sophomore defensive back Gunnar Chriswisser to stifle Tivy’s momentum. Offensively, sophomore quarterback Max Sexton threw for five touchdowns; and the offense as a whole gained over 480 yards. Kerrville-Tivy, meanwhile, managed to generate around 355 yards of total offense for the game.

After a four-and-out for Tivy and a three-and-out for Cedar Park to open the game, the Antlers appeared to have some momentum on their second drive. Despite starting at their own seven-yard line, the Antlers moved the ball to the 50-yard line on a 41-yard pass from senior quarterback Cade Dyal to senior running back Ian Ronan. On the next play, however, Chriswisser made his first of two interceptions. The return, combined with an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty on Tivy, set up the Timberwolves at the Antlers’ 27-yard line.

The Timberwolves wasted little time taking advantage of the turnover. Sexton connected with senior wide receiver Jack Grimm on a 27-yard touchdown pass on the next play. Tivy responded by moving the ball almost exclusively on the ground to tie the game at 7-7 on a 19-yard touchdown run by junior running back Hayden Schreckenbach.

Cedar Park returned serve with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Sexton to senior wide receiver Rocky Ferony to retake the lead at 13-7 following a blocked extra point.

The Antlers appeared poised to take the lead on their next drive, but Gunnar Chriswisser came up with his second interception of the night on third-and-goal in the end zone. Three plays later, Sexton connected with senior wide receiver Tommy Lavine on a 42-yard touchdown pass to give Cedar Park a 21-7 lead following the two-point conversion.

After both teams went three-and-out, the Antlers took over at the Timberwolves’ 46-yard line. Following an amazing one-handed catch by senior wide receiver Hutch White for 23 yards, Dyal again connected with White for a 20-yard touchdown catch to narrow the gap to 21-14 Cedar Park. However, that was as close as Kerrville would get for the rest of the game.

Despite starting at their own 25-yard line with no timeouts and only 49 seconds before halftime, Cedar Park used effective clock management to move the ball down the field culminating in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Sexton to Ferony to give the Timberwolves a 28-14 lead at the break.

After a competitive first half, the Timberwolves dominated the second half. After swapping three-and-outs, Cedar Park put together a 75-yard drive that culminated in a 15-yard touchdown run.  It was a fourth-and-one score by junior running back Tyler Lavine.

After another three-and-out drive for the Antlers, the Timberwolves extended their lead to 42-14 late in the third quarter when Sexton found Tyler Lavine for a four-yard touchdown pass. Neither team scored again until late in the fourth quarter when junior running back Hayden Craig scored on a one-yard touchdown run to seal the game for the Timberwolves at 49-14.

With the win, the Timberwolves move to 12-0 on the year and advance to the Regional Semi-Finals. They will take on the Yellowjackets of Edcouch-Elsa (8-4) who defeated Somerset 21-14 in their Area matchup. The game will be Friday night at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio with kickoff scheduled for 7:30pm.

For Kerrville-Tivy, the Antlers finish the season at 11-1. This is also the seventh consecutive year that the Antlers have advanced to at least the Area round.

by Steve Thomas

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