The Ax stays. Lilly opens with 50.

The Ax is still in Denison. It took 50 points on the first Friday of the Brian Lilly era to keep it here, and Munson spent the night sounding like it already knew the ending.

Denison 50, Sherman 19. The 128th Battle of the Ax, the one every Jacket calendar is built around, and the first snap with Lilly on the home sideline. Last August it was 28–16. This one was not that close.

Sherman’s night went the other way. Bearcat quarterback D. Ramos finished 20-of-35 for 206 yards, two touchdowns, and five interceptions. P. Browhow ran 19 times for 92 yards and a score. C. MacKey caught six balls for 91 yards and a touchdown. Twenty-six first-game points on the board for a visiting rivalry team is usually a night. It was not enough by 31.

The Jackets are 1–0. Sherman is 0–1. District 4-5A Division II can wait until Sept. 10 at Prosper Richland. The next thing on the slate is the road: Friday, Sept. 4, at Decatur. The Eagles are 1–0 after a 55–13 win over Eagle Mountain.

Lilly said in the spring that Denison is who he is. Friday was the first time the town got to watch him prove it with a headset on, under the same lights he played under, with the oldest trophy in Grayson County still sitting in the building when the clock hit zero.

The file from gameday is closed. The Ax does not travel. Next week it does — to Decatur, 7 p.m.