For Belton coach Rodney Southern and his young Tigers, tonight’s 7:30 matchup with Killeen Ellison at Leo Buckley Stadium in Killeen suddenly got a whole lot bigger.
With College Station A&M Consolidated forfeiting its win over Belton two weeks ago for using an ineligible player, the Tigers joined Temple, Ellison, Killeen Shoemaker and Consol in a five-way tie for second place in 12-5A.
Without a playoff appearance since 2003 and with its hopes fading after last week’s loss to No. 7-ranked Copperas Cove, Belton has found new life.
“We told them yesterday (Wednesday) after practice,” Southern said of the forfeit. “Obviously they’re excited. They understand where they are now and the opportunity that they now have.”
Belton (2-5 overall, 2-2 district) likely would have had to win its final three games against Ellison (4-3, 2-2), at home against Temple and at last-place Bryan to earn one of the district’s four playoff berths.
Now, the Tigers, who hold the tiebreaker against Consol and Shoemaker, are in a favorable situation if they can muster two wins in the next three weeks, starting with the inconsistent Eagles tonight.
“It puts an extra emphasis on this game because they are one of the teams we are tied with,” Southern said.
Belton needs to maintain its high level on offense that was shown in last week’s 52-26 loss to stout Cove.
The Tigers scored the most points the Bulldawgs have allowed this season and had 335 passing yards against a defense that had been yielding just 86.7 per game.
Sophomore quarterback David Ash set a school record with 30 completions - breaking Toby Rumfield’s mark of 27 in 1990 - on 40 attempts last week. Receiver Kevin Thornton, who left last week’s game with a concussion, has an area-best 50 catches and is 14 short of breaking the school record.
“They do a great job of spreading the field,” said Ellison first-yearcoach Buddy McBryde, who compares Belton’s wide-open passing attack to Del Valle and Killeen.
The Eagles have been up and down for most of the season.
Ellison, a playoff team the last three years, committed nine turnovers in a 51-14 loss to Round Rock and had 171 total yards in a 45-0 defeat against Cove.
The Eagles rebounded to beat Harker Heights, trailed Temple by three touchdowns in the second half before rallying to tie the game but eventually losing 49-42, and dominated Bryan in last week’s 28-9 win.
Since switching their offense to the run-happy Wing-T this season, the Eagles have averaged 262.6 rushing yards per game and are improving each week.
“They’re committed to it,” Southern said about Ellison’s running attack. “A lot of people get in an offense and aren’t really sold out. They are sold out.
“You can tell by how they’re doing it - they’re adding to it each week. A lot of that offense is about getting angles on people. You better have people at the point of attack.”
Texas Tech commitment Daniel Cobb, the Eagles’ featured back in an attack that includes Jaron Turner (498 yards) and younger brother David Cobb (221 yards), ran for 186 yards last week and needs 112 to crack the 1,000-yard barrier.
“We told them on Monday that you have to stop No. 42,” Southern said. “He’s the center point of the offense and he’s going to get the ball 25-30 times.”
Belton has struggled to stop opponents all season, giving up more than 400 yards a game. Excluding their 1-0 forfeit win over Consol, the Tigers have allowed at least 30 points in every game and have forced only seven turnovers.
If the Tigers can force timely turnovers and get a strong defensive effort tonight, the once-gloomy playoff picture won’t seem so dim anymore.
“Everything will probably shake out after this Friday night,” Southern said. “The kids are excited and understand what they need to do.”
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
