Last Thursday in Killeen, Southern’s Tigers opened up a 19-0 lead early in the third quarter before Harker Heights roared back for a 30-19 win.
One night later at Leo Buckley Stadium, Gray’s Grey Wolves led Bryan 21-0 at halftime before the Vikings stormed back to force overtime with 23 seconds left, then denied running back Dion Demers at the 1-yard line on an attempted two-point conversion in a 42-41 thriller.
Belton and Shoemaker seek to recover from last week’s missed opportunities and record that first 12-5A victory when they meet at 7:30 tonight in a homecoming game at Tiger Field.
“If you just look at the stats, yes, we let it (the Heights game) get away,” said Southern, whose team has lost eight straight games since last year’s 47-45 home win over Shoemaker. “You’re up 19-0, you’re supposed to win. But at the same time, Heights came out and executed better than we did in the second half.”
Gray said last week’s narrow loss proved that his team isn’t the worst in the district.
“I didn’t feel like we let it slip away,” Gray said. “We knew they were going to come back. We felt like if we could hold on we could probably pull one out. We’re picked last in the district and nobody expected anything from us.”
The Tigers’ defense fell apart in the second half at Heights. Belton allowed 293 rushing yards on 26 carries and the Knights never punted. Another ugly performance might spell doom against a high-powered Shoemaker squad that can exploit teams several ways.
Despite mustering only 6 rushing yards on 20 carries against Bryan, Jonquese Jordan and Demers have run for a combined 563 this season and key the Grey Wolves’ attack.
“Both are speed guys,” Southern said. “Demers is a lot like (Kerry) Sloan of Heights (who rushed for 229 yards on 17 carries against Belton). Jordan is very athletic and they make their offense go. They are as athletic of a football team as I’ve seen this year.”
If the Tigers plan on stopping the run, quarterback Jameill Showers, receivers M.J. Porter and Derrick Mays and Demers out of the backfield can light up defenses through the air. Showers threw for 261 yards last week, including 80- and 34-yard strikes to Porter, a 63-yard play to Demers and a 15-yard score to Mays.
Defensively, the Grey Wolves showed signs of progress by blanking the Vikings in the first half before allowing 42 points after that.
“We were able to hold them down,” Gray said. “Our defense is coming around. They scored once and set them up on another score.”
The defense will need an effort similar to the first half against Bryan in order to slow down Belton’s steadily improving passing game.
Sophomore quarterback David Ash has thrown for 196, 225 and 255 yards, respectively, in his three starts. Heights’ defense shut out big-play threat Jarrett Crowell (seven catches, 271 yards), but that allowed junior Kevin Thornton to set a school record with 14 grabs. Thornton has emerged as the Tigers’ top weapon, with 23 catches in the last six quarters dating to the second half at Mansfield Timberview.
“They are a heck of a throwing team,” Gray said. “Throughout our district you think you’ve got to stop the run with every team, but those guys are good in the passing game.”
For Belton and Shoemaker to atone for last week’s second-half letdowns and get their first district win, they’ll need a complete, four-quarter effort.
“We need to keep the ball and get first downs,” Gray said. “We needed to get some key first downs and we didn’t (against Bryan). We weren’t able to keep the ball and manage the game and that’s one of the things we’ll have to do tomorrow.”
Said Southern: “We played probably the best (first) half against Heights and we played a good second half against Timberview. We have to put together four quarters. That’s a coaching cliché. You have to know when to continue to execute no matter what the circumstances.”
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
