Tell the scoreboard operator to be ready when A&M Consolidated and Bryan meet at Kyle Field in October. One game into the season, both the Vikings and Tigers appear capable of putting up lots of points.

Preventing them is another matter.

The local teams split a pair of nondistrict football games Friday night, with the Tigers beating Round Rock McNeil 44-39 at home and the Vikings losing 52-42 at Cypress Falls. Although the home teams won both matchups for the second consecutive season, there was much more offense this year.

Consol gained 447 yards and gave up 510. Bryan had 294 yards of offense and allowed 638.

The four teams combined for 1,889 yards of offense. Together, they produced 187 points, more than twice their total of 77 in last year's openers.

Why the offensive explosion? Consol coach Jim Slaughter said it was a combination of good offenses and poor conditioning, which forced some key defenders off the field at times.

"I think it had a whole lot to do with [McNeil] being good," Slaughter said. "There were times when our conditioning hurt us a little bit. We didn't have our best athletes on the field sometimes because of cramps and stuff like that."

Several Bryan players also were sidelined by cramps and fatigue during the second half against the Golden Eagles.

Cy-Falls quarterback Jacob Poole wore out the Vikings. He passed 226 yards and ran for 190, accounting for seven touchdowns.

"We weren't doing a lot of tackling," Bryan coach Bob Bellard said. "We were reaching. We've got to make more plays, especially those third-down plays."

Bryan will host Leander this week then visit McNeil. The Mavericks battered Consol with running back Adrian Smith carrying 40 times for 318 yards behind a huge offensive line that had three players who weighed 299 pounds and another at 276.

"Their offensive bunch, golly, they're as big as the moon," Slaughter said.

Consol finally stopped the McNeil offense when the Mavs switched to passes and outside runs in the last 2 minutes. Middle linebacker Nelson Devin made one of the key tackles after suffering a concussion that likely will prevent him from playing this week against Cypress Woods.

The Tigers rolled up 324 yards rushing, averaging 9.5 yards per carry. Consol coaches said the blocking effort was led by guard Patrick Bettiol and tight end Earl Burrell.

Consol also got a big night from new punter Sheldon Sutphen, who averaged 55.5 yards on two kicks.

For Bryan, Kevin Jefferson made key contributions on special teams and defense. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomore returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. Jefferson also intercepted a pass at the goal line at the end of the third quarter.