Despite that confidence, however, he and the Wildcats couldn’t have known back then that they would finish undefeated in District 13-5A.
But there the champion Wildcats were on a November Thursday night at Leo Buckley Stadium, celebrating a surprisingly easy 39-7 win over Killeen Ellison that gave them a 6-0 record for Temple’s first outright district title since 1995 and its first perfect league mark since 1985.
“To go undefeated in district for the first time in 22 years and make history, it feels great,” said Temple senior fullback Adrian Reaves-Brown, who ran for 104 yards and a touchdown as the Wildcats’ Wing-T offense racked up 395 rushing yards. “We’ve been taking it one game at a time since the start of district and striving to get better.”
Added senior wingback Quentin Tuck, who ran for 71 yards and caught a 7-yard TD pass from Chase Moore: “Coach (Bryce) Monsen told the seniors this week to finish the job, and tonight we played our hearts out on the field. Before the season we wanted to make the playoffs, and we ended up improving and going 6-0.”
After watching his team dominate playoff-bound Ellison to finish the regular season 7-3 and take plenty of momentum into the Class 5A Division II state playoffs, Temple third-year coach Monsen praised his players and coaches for the Wildcats’ achievement.
“We have great, great kids in Temple who have worked so hard and we have an outstanding coaching staff,” said Monsen, whose first two Wildcat teams were 2-18 and won one district game. “Before the season we felt we’d make the playoffs.
“Now, with that said, every game we played we got better. Beating Bryan was a big game to get our confidence back, then beating A&M Consolidated at their place was tremendous. You just don’t know with high school kids.”
In the playoffs for the first time since 2003, Temple will battle the lower seed of 14-5A’s two Division II qualifiers - Cedar Park, Leander, Pflugerville or Round Rock - in a bi-district game next week.
Sophomore running back Lache Seastrunk had another stellar game for the Wildcats. He didn’t start because of an illness that made him miss practice time, but then he made Ellison’s defenders miss him as he gained 113 yards, including touchdowns of 48, 8 and 48 yards as Temple sprinted to a 27-0 halftime lead over Ellison (5-5, 3-3).
Seastrunk finished the regular season with 1,385 yards and 18 scores on only 120 carries, and Temple pushed its season rushing total to 3,258 yards.
The Wildcats’ defense excelled also, harassing dangerous Ellison senior quarterback Ivan Delgado into four turnovers - three fumbles and a Robert Black interception - and limiting him to 69 passing yards and 0 rushing yards on 10 tries.
“I have no words to describe how hard our defensive kids played tonight,” Monsen said. “Every time I turned around it was three-and-out. I’m really proud of them and the job Coach (Brad) Gunn and the defensive coaches did.”
Ellison advanced to Temple’s 21-yard line on its opening drive, but Delgado lost the ball in the backfield and Wildcats linebacker Patrick Johnson recovered the ball at the 34. After Reaves-Brown charged for 16 yards, Seastrunk took a handoff to the right side, got to the corner and blazed down the sideline for his first 48-yard touchdown with five minutes gone.
Delgado lost another fumble in the backfield, and linebacker Cody Monsen pounced on the ball at the 13. However, Seastrunk was stripped of the ball around the 2 and Ellison recovered.
But Temple quickly forced a punt, and Tevin Reese’s 19-yard return set up Moore’s short touchdown pass to Tuck in the back-right corner of the end zone. Moore then fired a two-point pass to Daniel Carr for a 14-0 score late in the first quarter.
A shanked Ellison punt midway through the second and a 13-yard Tuck rumble led to Reaves-Brown’s 6-yard scoring blast through the right side of the line, making it 21-0 with 2:11 left before halftime.
Senior rover Black then speared Delgado’s crossing pass at the Eagle 38 and ran it to the 24 one minute before the break. Reaves-Brown ran for 16 yards to the 8, then Seastrunk ripped around the right edge for his second touchdown and a 27-0 halftime advantage.
“I just think we had a quick start, and it sure helps,” Bryce Monsen said. “Ellison is a good football team. We just have a lot of confidence right now.”
Temple’s defense continued to fluster Delgado and Ellison’s shotgun-spread attack, and nine minutes into the third quarter Seastrunk scooted up the middle and outran everyone for his second 48-yard score and a 33-0 game. Patrick Gamble’s 3-yard TD rumble with 4:42 left capped the Wildcat scoring.
Said Reaves-Brown of Temple’s outlook for the upcoming playoffs: “We just have to keep striving and pushing to get better."
gwille@temple-telegram.com
