For the senior varsity football players and the coaching staff, who remembers when those seniors were freshman, the Knights’ 17-14 win over Kerrville Tivy wasn’t just special. It was a return to their roots.
The last time the Knights won a playoff game was four years ago … when the current seniors were freshmen.
There have been some rough patches between playoff wins, but after Friday’s win–the team’s 10th of the season–under the lights at House Park, there can be no doubt that this is a special team enjoying a spectacular season.
The Knights defeated a tough opponent thanks to key plays in all three phases of the game: offense, defense and special teams. Among the key plays were these:
Andre Blakemore’s 62-yard TD run straight down the Tivy sideline that opened the scoring in the first quarter.
Luke Whitefield’s 33-yard field goal in the second quarter that broke a 7-7 tie and ultimately provided the margin of victory.
Prince Tyler’s 70-yard fumble return down in the third quarter that gave the Knights some insurance they would dearly need after Tivy scored their only second-half points to cut the lead to three.
Mason Bryant’s clutch punt from his own end zone with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter that reversed field position and gave the Antlers a long field to start their final drive.
Tyrell Washington’s game-sealing interception of a Karson Valverde pass with two minutes to go that ended the Antlers’ last threat to score.
With the other 25-5A playoff teams all losing their opening round games, the Knights are now the only district team still alive in the chase for the 5-A state title.
The team will travel to Eschenburg Field in Floresville to play the Victoria East Titan in the area playoffs. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
To hear exclusive interviews and see our comprehensive photo gallery of the pregame, game and halftime festivities, please see below. Reporting by J.R. Cardenas. Photos by J.R. Cardenas, Gregory James, Tony Lavorgna, Madison Olsen, Adrian Pena and Dave Winter.
![A PRIDE-FUL WEEK OF CELEBRATION:
As part of AISDs week-long celebration of PRIDE, students of the McCallum Spectrum Club worked to create a week full of activities, prizes and helping hands to support the schools LGBTQ+ community. The club is widely available for anyone to join, and specializes in creating a safe space for students to share and give advice. While Pride month itself isn’t until June, AISD designates one week in March to celebrate and commemorate the importance of this part of the student body.
As part of the week of festivities, the club held a booth in the front hall handing out pride stickers, pins and merch to passers by. For junior Zane Joly, the booth idea was brought up as a way for students to engage with one another, and connect with the community.
“I call out to people in the halls, ‘hey, do you want stickers?’” Joly said. “We just give out free pride stickers and sometimes other free pride merch to the students of Macallum because everybody likes pride stickers.”
While the week itself is packed with a variety of different activities, the overall goal is to bring students closer together and create a safer environment for self expression at McCallum.
“The idea for the student panel largely came from the black [history] student panel that is done during Black History Month,” Joly said. “And the idea for giving out free stuff was developed at Spectrum last year.”
Joly is not only a member of the Spectrum club, but also holds a leadership position giving them a more hands-on role with the projects and Pride Week activities.
“McCallum has a very high queer population,” Joly said. “I think Its nice that we get a chance to celebrate Pride because Pride Month is during the summer, and I think its just a nice thing for the community and getting to just celebrate it.”
While the merch table at lunch was only a small part of the numerous parts of McCallum’s Pride week, for Joly this small impact made all the difference.
“The purpose of Pride is to make people not feel alone and to make them feel safe,” Joly said. “The goal is [to make people] happy about a part of themselves that theyre often conditioned to not feel good about.”
Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Shila Gill.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/53597258192_6e7168d8ae_o-1-1200x676.jpg)
