Despite 224 yards of total offense for sophomore Kevin Thornton in his first start, the Tigers dropped their fourth straight game to end the season, 45-24 to College Station A&M Consolidated on Friday night at Tiger Field in a District 13-5A game.
Belton (3-7 overall, 1-5 district) lost seven of eight after a 2-0 start in coach Rodney Southern’s first season.
Thornton tied the game with his first touchdown pass, connecting with Cole Dominguez - the team’s starting QB the past eight weeks - from 24 yards out late in the third quarter to tie the game at 24. Dominguez was the leading receiver, catching 53 of Thornton’s 117 passing yards.
Early in the fourth, Consol fullback Marshall Cashion - who had 33 carries for 195 yards and three touchdowns - scored to give the second-place Tigers (4-5, 4-1) the lead. On the next drive, a 20-yard pass from Thornton to Dominguez gave Belton hope to tie, but the drive stalled when Kevin Kapchinski broke up a pass intended for Jarrett Crowell on fourth-and-8 on the Consol 43-yard line with 7:25 left. It was a fourth-and-3 until a false start pushed the ball back.
Southern - who took over a Tiger team that had winless seasons last year and in 2004 - said the choice to go for it on fourth down was easy.
“I decided initially because I didn’t know for sure that we could stop them,” he said. “If we get it and get a chance ,we were already talking about going for two if we scored there to get a lead to do something to change the momentum.”
Consolidated coach Jim Slaughter said that play did change the momentum, in favor of his Tigers.
“That was a big, big play for us,” he said. “That was the first time all night long we managed to stop them. They did a good job. It was one of those situations where they had nothing to lose and a lot to gain. They can be proud of the way they played.”
On Consol’s ensuing possession, Dominic Preston threw his first touchdown pass on an 11-yard rollout to a wide-open Garrett Smith. On the first play of Belton’s drive, Cody Gangloff’s snap was premature, catching Thornton off guard. The ball bounced off his chest into the hands of Cole Hanks, and Cashion’s final score with 1:32 left sealed the win.
“They (Belton) played a heck of a football game,” said Slaughter, whose team already clinched a playoff berth before Friday’s game. “I feel fortunate to be going home with a victory.”
Despite the fumble and an earlier interception, Southern said he was happy with how Thornton played.
“We wanted to give him an opportunity, and I think he showed us what he can do tonight,” he said. “Kevin showed some leadership tonight and Kevin showed some poise.”
Consolidated opened up an early 17-3 lead, but Thornton broke off a 60-yard scoring run to draw Belton to within seven. The run came a play after Dominguez was called for a hold that negated all but 10 yards of a 25-yard run by Keith Daniels. But Dominguez also had a key block on Thornton’s run that sprang him for the final 20 yards of the scoring play.
Daniels capped Belton’s opening second-half drive with a 4-yard run to tie the game at 17. He finished with a team-leading 110 yards and Thornton had 107.
After Consol took a 24-17 lead, Thornton faked the handoff to Daniels on the first play of Belton’s next drive and took off for 55 more yards. The next play was a swinging gate, and Thornton nearly was picked on a pass to the weak side. Belton audibled out of the gate at the last minute on the next play, and in the confusion Dominguez found Thornton in the end zone.
But in the end, the comeback came up short and Belton suffered its third-worst loss of the year.
“It frustrating, but it’s more frustrating in this situation for these kids that won’t be back,” Southern said. “You play what I feel is the best-coached team in the district and I have a lot of respect for Coach Slaughter. To be able to play them the way we played them, the score was a lot closer than what it ended up as.”
NOTE: Aside from playing nearly every down at receiver, Dominguez played extensively in the absence of safety/running back Khiry Robinson. Southern said Robinson missing the game “was out of his control” because “he was picked up at school by the police” earlier Friday. He said he did not know any further details.
ecarifio@temple-telegram.com
