What do you call a quarterback who contributes 446 total yards of offense and eight touchdowns in his first game back from a major knee injury?

At Anderson High, you call him the "Max Gerlich Show." For his opening act as the team's new starter, he made House Park his personal stage Thursday night and helped carry the Trojans to a 57-40 season-opening victory over McCallum in the annual Taco Shack Bowl.

For the record, Gerlich passed for 308 yards and seven touchdowns in front of a near-capacity crowd. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound quarterback also displayed breakaway speed, rushing for 138 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.

Anderson had high hopes for Gerlich last year, but he missed the Trojans' final seven games with a patella injury. He said he was 100% over the injury by the end of this spring and wasn't nervous about his first game back. And the senior had an interesting answer when asked if he thought it would be possible to score eight touchdown in the rivalry game.

"I'd say that I would have believed it," said Gerlich, who has committed to UTSA. "We've got playmakers all over the field. It's no secret (receiver) Ed Small is a beast, and we've dogs everywhere. I'd say this was all a product of the guys around me. It was a good team win."

Playmakers were all over the field

Speaking of Small, the TCU-bound senior left his fingerprints all over the game, finishing with six catches for 101 yards and three touchdowns. He said he was impressed with the team's "resilience"; Anderson led 43-20 at halftime but watched the pesky Knights continuously fight back.

RELATED: TCU commit Ed Small knows he made the right choice picking football over baseball

"We didn't expect (McCallum) to score that much, but we responded every time they would score," Small said. "That's what I'll take away from this game."

It was a good win, for sure, but Trojans coach Donald Hatcher will have plenty of work for his defensive players ahead of next week's game at Elgin. After last year's 42-0 win over McCallum, few would have expected the Knights to put up 40 points on them 12 months later.

"We've got to tackle better and make sure we line up in the right spot," Hatcher said. "The offense is going to score. They picked up our defense tonight. And our defense will pick up our offense before we get through the year."

Hatcher had high praise for his quarterback.

"When I coached at DeSoto, we had a quarterback named Des White (class of 2014)," Hatcher recalled. "When he got the ball, we knew we were going to win the football game. And right now, when Max has the ball, we know we're going to win."

(Don't forget McCallum's Luke Dunham)

Across the field, McCallum quarterback Luke Dunham was spectacular in defeat. The three-year starter filled the stat sheet, finishing with 326 yards passing, 150 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.

"That's exactly what I expected from him," McCallum coach Thomas Gammerdinger said. "He's a tremendous competitor, a great teammate, a great football player. He's really the whole package."

It was a game that lasted nearly 3 hours, 30 minutes. There were big plays and several official timeouts with players from both teams suffering from cramps.

With about two minutes left in the game, McCallum sophomore linebacker William Overstreet asked on the sideline what time it was.

It was 10:55.

"Man, I still have homework to do," he said.

Noteworthy

Anderson wore throwback uniforms — black pants and jerseys, gold helmets — in honor of L.C. Anderson High, also known as Old Anderson, which was shut down in 1971 as part of desegregation efforts. ... The game also marked the debut of Jason Glenn, the Austin Independent School District's new athletic director. The former Texas A&M linebacker played seven years in the NFL with the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings. Standing on the sidelines throughout the game, he said he enjoys his new job because "the people have been so nice and welcoming."

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Anderson QB Max Gerlich thrills in opening win over rival McCallum