The Tigers might have turned the corner Friday night against Killeen Ellison, albeit in heartbreaking fashion.
Belton, which trailed by 14 points on five occasions before rallying to tie the game, couldn’t stop the Eagles on a late drive and Jeff Myszka kicked an 18-yard field goal with 4 seconds left as Ellison escaped Leo Buckley Stadium with a thrilling 45-42 win over the Tigers.
“This might have been it,” Southern said about a potential turning point in Belton’s program. “I had one in Marshall that I knew turned our program and we lost it in overtime. I’m going to build on this.
“I think our kids grew up tonight. I haven’t said that before because I’ve always been able to see some more things that I think we need to improve on.”
Belton fell to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in District 12-5A, tied for fifth place with Killeen Shoemaker, which lost to first-place Copperas Cove. Ellison improved to 5-3, 3-2, tied for second with Temple and College Station A&M Consolidated.
“We made some mistakes defensively,” said Eagles coach Buddy McBryde, whose team allowed 501 yards. “Our kids hung in there and we corrected some of them and Belton adjusted. They caught us with some plays and some routes that we hadn’t seen in them before but our kids held on for the win.”
With the game tied at 42, kicker Tyler Pate recovered the Tigers’ second straight onside kick and his second of the game as Belton looked for the potential go-ahead score.
But David Ash’s pass on third-and-8 fell incomplete and the Tigers punted.
Ellison started at its 17-yard line with 3:25 remaining, the first time the Eagles had possession since late in the third.
Jaron Turner (17 carries, 140 yards) broke off a 30-yard run and Texas Tech commitment Daniel Cobb returned to the game after bruising his hip in the first quarter for a 7-yard run on third-and-1 at the Eagles’ 48.
Belton was flagged for having 12 men on the field, then was whistled for pass interference in the end zone.
On first-and-10 from the 20, Kyle Skinner found Cameron Crowder for a 9-yard gain and the Tigers committed a personal foul, moving the ball to the 6.
Turner had a 5-yard carry before Belton linebacker Kyle Voss stopped Daniel Cobb at the 1.
Ellison called timeout and Myszka booted the winning points with 4 seconds left.
“When we look at it on film, I don’t think it was anything we did mentally as it was them doing a good job blocking (on the last drive),” Southern said.
The Eagles ran for 373 yards and scored on four of their five first-half possessions in their Wing-T offense to build a 28-14 halftime lead.
Pate recovered his first onside kick to start the second half and Ash capped the drive with a 5-yard run to make it 28-21.
Ellison answered in four plays as Skinner found Crowder for a 30-yard score to push the lead back to 35-21.
Three plays later, Belton’s Anthony Huber - who had six catches for 109 yards, eight carries for 77 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs - scored from the 8 to trim the lead to 35-28.
After Thomas Sholars was ruled out of bounds while nearly recovering another onside kick, David Cobb, Daniel’s younger brother, muscled past Voss at the goal line for a 42-28 lead.
Belton ran off the next 23 offensive plays, scoring on Ash’s 27-yard run on which he broke four tackles and Huber’s 4-yard run to tie the game at 42 with 5:11 left.
Ash was 25-of-42 passing for 311 yards despite not having top receiver Kevin Thornton, who was held out after suffering a concussion in last week’s loss to Cove.
Belton will get another shot at facing the Wing-T offense when it hosts rival Temple on Friday in the Tigers’ final home game of the season.
“They have a big bruiser (Derrick Davis) and a guy (Lache Seastrunk) who is going to go 80 yards on you at some point,” Southern said, “but I think Ellison has three running backs (Daniel Cobb, David Cobb and Turner) as good as anybody’s.”
KILLEEN - Belton coach Rodney Southern believes when building a program that at some point there will be that defining game in which everything finally comes together.
The Tigers might have turned the corner Friday night against Killeen Ellison, albeit in heartbreaking fashion.
Belton, which trailed by 14 points on five occasions before rallying to tie the game, couldn’t stop the Eagles on a late drive and Jeff Myszka kicked an 18-yard field goal with 4 seconds left as Ellison escaped Leo Buckley Stadium with a thrilling 45-42 win over the Tigers.
“This might have been it,” Southern said about a potential turning point in Belton’s program. “I had one in Marshall that I knew turned our program and we lost it in overtime. I’m going to build on this.
“I think our kids grew up tonight. I haven’t said that before because I’ve always been able to see some more things that I think we need to improve on.”
Belton fell to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in District 12-5A, tied for fifth place with Killeen Shoemaker, which lost to first-place Copperas Cove. Ellison improved to 5-3, 3-2, tied for second with Temple and College Station A&M Consolidated.
“We made some mistakes defensively,” said Eagles coach Buddy McBryde, whose team allowed 501 yards. “Our kids hung in there and we corrected some of them and Belton adjusted. They caught us with some plays and some routes that we hadn’t seen in them before but our kids held on for the win.”
With the game tied at 42, kicker Tyler Pate recovered the Tigers’ second straight onside kick and his second of the game as Belton looked for the potential go-ahead score.
But David Ash’s pass on third-and-8 fell incomplete and the Tigers punted.
Ellison started at its 17-yard line with 3:25 remaining, the first time the Eagles had possession since late in the third.
Jaron Turner (17 carries, 140 yards) broke off a 30-yard run and Texas Tech commitment Daniel Cobb returned to the game after bruising his hip in the first quarter for a 7-yard run on third-and-1 at the Eagles’ 48.
Belton was flagged for having 12 men on the field, then was whistled for pass interference in the end zone.
On first-and-10 from the 20, Kyle Skinner found Cameron Crowder for a 9-yard gain and the Tigers committed a personal foul, moving the ball to the 6.
Turner had a 5-yard carry before Belton linebacker Kyle Voss stopped Daniel Cobb at the 1.
Ellison called timeout and Myszka booted the winning points with 4 seconds left.
“When we look at it on film, I don’t think it was anything we did mentally as it was them doing a good job blocking (on the last drive),” Southern said.
The Eagles ran for 373 yards and scored on four of their five first-half possessions in their Wing-T offense to build a 28-14 halftime lead.
Pate recovered his first onside kick to start the second half and Ash capped the drive with a 5-yard run to make it 28-21.
Ellison answered in four plays as Skinner found Crowder for a 30-yard score to push the lead back to 35-21.
Three plays later, Belton’s Anthony Huber - who had six catches for 109 yards, eight carries for 77 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs - scored from the 8 to trim the lead to 35-28.
After Thomas Sholars was ruled out of bounds while nearly recovering another onside kick, David Cobb, Daniel’s younger brother, muscled past Voss at the goal line for a 42-28 lead.
Belton ran off the next 23 offensive plays, scoring on Ash’s 27-yard run on which he broke four tackles and Huber’s 4-yard run to tie the game at 42 with 5:11 left.
Ash was 25-of-42 passing for 311 yards despite not having top receiver Kevin Thornton, who was held out after suffering a concussion in last week’s loss to Cove.
Belton will get another shot at facing the Wing-T offense when it hosts rival Temple on Friday in the Tigers’ final home game of the season.
“They have a big bruiser (Derrick Davis) and a guy (Lache Seastrunk) who is going to go 80 yards on you at some point,” Southern said, “but I think Ellison has three running backs (Daniel Cobb, David Cobb and Turner) as good as anybody’s."
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
