'This game means the most:' Anderson takes Austin-area rivalry contest vs McCallum

Nick Briggs believes. 

With Anderson seemingly losing momentum in its annual rivalry game vs. McCallum in the fourth quarter Thursday at House Park, Briggs made the play of the game. 

Moments after the Knights had pulled within 14-9, Briggs took a handoff, ran around the right side of the line, slipped through a tackle and sprinted down the sideline for a 52-yard TD that pushed the Trojans' lead back to two possessions. 

"All my boys, they all believed in me; everybody on the team believed in me all year," Briggs said. "And my boy (Kam'Ron Hornsby), he said, ‘Go believe.' And I went out there, and I see a defender come up, so I made a move, and then all my receivers had great blocks on the outside." 

In a game that is now called the "Shoal Creek Showdown" and was mostly a defensive battle, Briggs and Hornsby were critical in helping Anderson to a 21-9 win. 

The duo combined for 249 yards rushing and each had a lengthy touchdown run that immediately answered a McCallum score. 

"They were slanting a lot, so we saw a lot of cutback lanes," Briggs said. "Me and Kam, I trust my guy. And we're the same player, basically. So we just cut and keep running." 

Anderson (5-2, 3-2 District 13-5A DI), which also received a 16-yard TD run from quarterback Cove Darbyshire, struggled with penalties on both sides of the ball most of the contest. But the rushing attack is something the Trojans always feel they can rely on. 

"It was electric," Anderson defensive lineman Zach Cecalek said. "Even whenever our backs are against the wall, I know the run game can bail us out. I just love seeing (Briggs and Hornsby) going up the sideline." 

Anderson thrives defensively

Anderson's defense kept making stops. 

Whether it was a routine third-down play in the first quarter or a goal-line stand with less than four minutes to play, the Trojans came through on that side of the ball. 

Anderson only gave up 9 yards rushing and more than half of McCallum's 204 passing yards came on two plays in the fourth quarter. 

Cecalek, who made two sacks and was a constant presence in the Knights' backfield, noted it was a team effort. 

"The pass rush really worked well, but we were bailed out by our secondary a lot of the time," he said. "It's really good to see our defense step up to the plate in all aspects." 

Anderson coach Donald Hatcher said the performance gave him flashbacks. 

"They reminded me of last year's defense," said Hatcher, who lost eight starters on that side of the ball from a team that finished 10-2. "They sold out. (Linebacker) Reagan Smith was the one that really stuck out. He made a lot of big open-field tackles on their three-year starter at quarterback. Zack showed out, everybody looked good and we tackled well." 

Another rivalry win

It's the fifth straight win for Anderson in the series, which is arguably one of the top two in the Austin area and didn't start the Central Texas high school football season in late August for the first time in more than two decades. 

Put in the same district by UIL realignment, the game had extra significance with postseason prospects on the line. 

"This game means the most for everybody," Briggs said. "I'm just glad I could go out there, do my job and help my seniors get the win in a tough game." 

McCallum defense gutsy

The Knights (3-4, 2-3) may have surprised some people by making this game competitive for four quarters. 

Anderson's margin of victory the previous four meetings was 35, but McCallum's defense was strong most of the night. 

"I think it was just executing some details and making some tweaks in things that we had been doing," McCallum coach Thomas Gammerdinger said. "Obviously, we still had a couple of busts and missed tackles, but the kids just really did a good job focusing and executing the game plan."

McCallum has a good chance to finish .500, and Gammerdinger thinks his team is playing its best football of the season. 

"We're continually getting better," he said. "I'm really proud of the kids for going through the process of improvement and taking the feedback and putting the ego aside and … showing up to work every day and having a positive attitude." 

One person who wasn't surprised at the game's competitiveness was Hatcher, who praised McCallum's coaching staff. 

"It's a rivalry game, and we all saw last week the OU-Texas game where OU came out and got them," he said. "Coach Gammerdinger and those guys had a great game plan. ... And McCallum showed up and played their butts off. So, a lot of respect to them." 

This article originally published at 'This game means the most:' Anderson takes Austin-area rivalry contest vs McCallum.