The Belton Tigers (8-1, 3-1) and Temple Wildcats (7-2, 3-1) will square off Friday at Wildcat Stadium for at the very least a share of the District 13-5A title.
At the same time at Waco ISD Stadium, the Copperas Cove Bulldawgs (6-3, 1-3) and Waco Lions (5-4, 1-3) will play to decide which team doesn’t finish at the bottom of the league standings.
What a difference a year can make.
“With this district, I don’t think anybody really knew for sure what was going to happen,” Belton coach Jay Warrick said Saturday, one day after his Tigers clinched a spot in the postseason with a 29-10 whipping of the Lions.
“Before the season, we figured that our game with Temple would probably have some kind of district ramifications. But I don’t know that a whole lot of people thought it would be for the district title.”
Last year, Belton and Temple finished a combined 3-7 in district play and 8-12 overall. On the other hand, Waco and Cove were 8-2 in the league and 18-5 overall.
Since the close of last season, the heirarchy of District 13-5A has been turned upside down and the result is a Belton-Temple showdown for the right to be called district champion.
“It’s such a great deal for both teams, regardless of what happens because of where we both were at last year” said Warrick, whose Tigers toppled the Wildcats in double overtime a year ago. “You have two programs who are used to success and have a lot of pride, and those things make for a healthy rivalry.”
Belton earned a playoff spot in only its second year at the Class 5A level. The Tigers’ last playoff apperance came in Class 4A in 2001, which capped a string of four consecutive trips.
The Wildcats reserved a spot in the postseason for the first time since 1999, and they did while having to learn a new system under first-year coach Tam Hollingshead.
Both teams have come miles from where they were a yar ago, and Warrick hopes both sides remember that come Friday.
“These are two groups of kids who have worked their tails off to get to this point,” Warrick explained. “Temple has accomplished a tremendous amount considering where they were the last few years. And we think we have to after moving up to 5A.
“And it’s a great tribute to both groups of kids and both coaching staffs and both communities. Belton and Temple both have a lot of pride, so what you’re going to see is a bunch of kids absolutely playing their hearts out. And that’s where the focus should be — on those kids.”
College Station A&M Consolidated will be the district’s other playoff representative.
Based on enrollment, Temple will advance to the 32-team Division I bracket while Belton and Consolidated will compete in the 64-team Division II playoff.
