Provo • Fifteen plays into Timpview's game Friday night against Highland of Pocatello, Idaho, and it was clear this was not going to resemble last year's matchup.

The Thunderbirds scored on their first offensive play and blitzed the visiting Rams for 405 yards of total offense in the first half of a 45-12 rout.

Senior running back Bryson McKenzie scored on runs of 67 and 58 yards on his first two carries as the Thunderbirds (2-0) overwhelmed the Rams (0-1) in a rematch of Timpview's 34-28 road victory last season.

"It's all my line, all my teammates," McKenzie said. "It wasn't me at all."

McKenzie's teammates dominated the Rams, whose road trip went from bad to worse before the sun went down.

The school bus carrying Highland's defense broke down just off Interstate 15 in Orem, and the team was late arriving to the stadium. In the first half, it appeared the defense never made it the last six miles of the trip.

Timpview quarterback Christian Covey completed his first 11 passes and was 13 of 14 for 254 yards before exiting in the third quarter. The only incompletion was a ball caught out of bounds just wide of the end zone.

"They were playing Cover 3 pretty deep and coach [Chad] Van Orden, our offensive coordinator, did a great job of calling a lot of underneath routes, a lot of quick passes, and our receivers did a great job of getting a lot of yards after the catch," Covey said.

McKenzie rushed for 136 yards and three scores for the Thunderbirds, who averaged 22.4 yards per play on their first five drives — all touchdowns.

After a failed onside kick by Highland to open the third quarter, Covey capped a 27-yard scoring drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Rickey Shumway one minute into the third quarter. That spelled the end of the evening for the starters.

Timpview backup quarterback Marshall Nelson completed 5 of 6 passes to account for 55 of the T-Birds' 320 yards through the air. Timpview racked up 509 yards of total offense.

"I told our coaches at half they looked like they were in midseason form," Highland coach Gino Mariani said of Timpview. "They play so hard and so physical, and it's tough to match that."