Bryan's football team persists in pushing A&M Consolidated to new heights, and the Tigers continue to thrive at the higher altitudes.

The Tigers outlasted Bryan 35-28 in a terrific 23rd edition of the Crosstown Showdown at Kyle Field on Friday night, answering well enough each time the Vikings shoved to push their winning streak over Bryan to six games, best in series history.

Consol has won 9 of the last 10 games against Bryan.

The Tigers (5-1, 3-0) scored the winning touchdown with 2 minutes, 41 seconds remaining to hang on to a share of the District 12-5A lead and give head coach Jim Slaughter his 200th career victory.

"I didn't feel like it had to happen on a game that I'll never forget," Slaughter said. "What a game."

The Vikings (4-2, 2-1) twice overcame 14-point deficits and later forged a fourth-quarter tie with a shocking 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. However, Bryan was unable to respond to the last Consol score, driving to the Tigers' 27 before a last-gasp drive ended.

"There's no give-up in any of these kids," Bryan coach Bob Bellard said. "We fought. We battled. Two good football teams lined up and they made a play more than we did."

Bryan delivered the most spectacular play in a game filled with great stuff when cornerback Dexter Comeaux intercepted a short pass and raced down the sideline for a 100-yard score. Hector Ocampo's extra point kick made it 28-28 with 4:50 left in regulation time, but then the Viking special teams faltered.

The ensuing kickoff by Ocampo sliced out of bounds at the Consol 41-yard line and Bryan was penalized 5 yards for being offside, allowing the Tigers to start at their 46.

"The momentum belonged to whoever had the ball because both of us were having a very big offensive night," Slaughter said.

Consol needed five plays to march 54 yards, the shortest touchdown drive of the game. Senior running back Chris Nutall zoomed 37 yards for the score, covering the same part of the field on which Comeaux's return had begun.

Bellard lamented the short kickoff that was not supposed to be a pooch kick, along with a fumbled exchange earlier in the final quarter between two of Bryan's brightest stars, quarterback Aaron Eike and fullback Chris Watson.

"If you go back and examine [the last six games in the series], it always comes down to who makes plays in the fourth quarter," Bellard said. "We told the kids all week that it was going to come down to the fourth quarter and who makes plays, and that sure as heck happened."

Leading 35-28 with 2:41 left, Slaughter jokingly told his coaches that the Tigers had scored too quickly.

The Vikings nearly proved him right. Eike found Cardrick Nix for a 39-yard gain on fourth-and-5, giving Bryan a first down at the Consol 25 with more than a minute left. However, the Tiger defense stopped Watson for a 2-yard loss and then forced three consecutive incompletions, getting a pass breakup by Ernest Payton between strong pass rushes from Jimmie Gilbert and J.J. Bynum.

"This is a special group of kids," Slaughter said. "I was extremely proud of the way our kids responded, because Bryan had an outstanding effort. I told the quarterback [Eike], coach Bellard and his coaches that they've got a dang good football team. Whatever happened in our game shouldn't have anything to do with their destiny."

The offensive express of the first half went off rails a bit early in the third quarter. Consol recovered a fumble, but the Vikings got the football back with a fourth-down stop against Tiger fullback Clinton Banks, the district's leading rusher who was limited to three carries because of an ankle injury.

Senior backup C.J. Goodman delivered his biggest game to pick up the slack, rushing for 73 yards on 16 punishing carries. The Tigers also got 107 yards from Quinton White and 102 by Nutall.

Junior quarterback Jacob Bronowski threw for a career-high 136 yards, completing 6 of 9 passes to help Consol produce 416 yards against the district's leading defense that had been allowing just 216 per game.

"Jacob did a great job of throwing the football," Slaughter said. "C.J. had a tremendous night."

The Vikings got a great performance from Eike, who struggled in the previous game against Killeen Shoemaker. Eike completed his first five passes and finished 7 of 13 for 123 yards. The senior also ran for 63 yards on 11 carries.

Watson drove the Bryan offense, gaining 147 yards on 26 carries while Consol limited the Vikings' leading rusher, Nate Jones, to 38 yards on 14 attempts.

Like in the last couple of games between the rivals, offense dominated the opening half.

Consol scored on its first play from scrimmage and twice built 14-point leads, but the Vikings battled back into contention with a pair of impressive marches that covered 80 and 77 yards.

The Tigers set the tone for a shockingly successful passing night for both teams when Nutall took a swing pass from Bronowski and raced 64 yards for a touchdown on the first offensive play. Bronowski and Eike combined to complete their first nine passes of the game, and another completion on a fake punt was wiped out by a costly penalty.

Bryan used 13 plays on its opening possession to drive 48 yards to the Tiger 37. Punter Tim Willett then threw a 23-yard pass to Chris Johnson, but the play was negated by an ineligible receiver downfield against Bryan and a personal foul against Consol. Willett punted on the replay and it was the only punt of the game and the only possession of the first half not to produce a touchdown, except when the Tigers took over with 25 seconds left after Bryan made it 21-14 with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Eike to Jones.