Temple’s Wildcats won only four games from 2004-06, but two of them were dramatic district road wins in overtime against Belton’s Tigers.
Belton didn’t qualify for the playoffs in 2002 or ’05, but close victories over Temple made the Tigers’ season.
When both teams are in the thick of the playoff hunt, however, it certainly adds to the level of excitement and intensity in this showdown.
Surging Temple can move closer to one of District 12-5A’s four playoff berths and Belton can improve its place in the postseason race when Lache Seastrunk and the hard-charging Wildcats (3-5, 3-2) battle David Ash and the pass-happy Tigers (2-6, 2-3) at 7:30 tonight at Tiger Field.
“A win would really help us with a playoff spot and they need to win, so that’s what’s fun and I think (Belton coach) Rodney (Southern) would feel the same way,” said Temple coach Bryce Monsen, whose team’s 35-20 victory over Bryan pushed its win streak to three games. “It’s Week 9 and we’re still playing for something.”
Southern says his players are approaching tonight’s clash as being vitally important.
“I told them this is a playoff game,” said Southern, whose squad rallied at Killeen Ellison last week but was edged 45-42. “If we lose it, are we out of the playoffs? No, we’re not mathematically, but obviously (if) you win this one, we’re in a lot better situation going into the last week of the year.”
Temple also had a one-game lead over Belton in 13-5A when they met last Oct. 12 at Wildcat Stadium. What shaped up as a competitive game became a complete rout, with the Wildcats thrashing the Tigers’ defense for 537 rushing yards and limiting Belton to 232 total yards to prevail 56-0.
That win improved Temple’s record against Belton to 27-6-5, and it was the largest margin of victory in the series since a 74-0 Wildcat win in 1934.
Monsen downplayed the 56-0 blowout, attributing part of it to Belton’s two lost fumbles and saying this week, “When we won 56-0, I remember saying after the game that that would never happen again.”
Of course, the Wildcats’ relentless Wing-T offense had plenty to do with it, too.
Seastrunk ran for 164 yards and a touchdown, Adrian Reaves-Brown had 158 yards and three scores and Quentin Tuck added 105 yards as Temple averaged 10.7 yards on 50 rushing attempts in the third of its six straight wins en route to the 13-5A championship.
“It’s part of the growing process,” said Southern, who’s in his second year at Belton. “I think we had some kids in that group that didn’t expect what happened to happen. I also think they (Temple) were very, very talented. It wasn’t so much what we didn’t do. It was what they did very well.
“Lache came on the scene last year and had some big plays, but those two inside running backs were as good as anyone had. They probably hurt us more than Lache did.”
District MVP Reaves-Brown and Tuck graduated, but Seastrunk - now a junior - is back and leads area rushers with 1,191 yards to go along with 12 touchdowns.
Southern knows that Belton must find a way to contain the explosive Seastrunk, but not at the cost of letting other weapons such as bruising fullback Derrick Davis and speedy receiver Tevin Reese have their way with the Tigers.
“I’m smart enough to know if Lache Seastrunk gets on the edge, nobody is going to catch him,” he said. “(Copperas) Cove couldn’t catch him; Bryan couldn’t catch him. When you know that going in, you have to look at the other things they do well and you have to stop those.
“They have an inside threat (Davis), an outside threat (Seastrunk) and an outside threat at receiver (Reese), so you can’t just say, ‘OK, stop this guy.’ You’ve got to play and do some things that may be a little unorthodox.”
On the other side, sophomore quarterback Ash and his corps of sure-handed receivers have Monsen and crew concerned.
Operating out of the shotgun formation and usually with five receivers, Ash has completed 155 of 250 passes for 1,981 yards - all of those numbers lead the area - and 11 scores. He’s also rushed for 313 yards and nine touchdowns to pace the Tigers in both categories.
“Their offense has really gotten good,” Monsen said. “Ash is doing a great job of spreading the ball around, their offensive line is huge and does a very good job of protecting him, and their receivers run very good routes and catch the football.
“Ash has what we call ‘generalship.’ His quarterback presence is very good and he has all the tools - he throws the ball very well and has great feet in the pocket. We have to pick our spots as to whether we come after him or back off.”
Ash will test an aggressive, improving Temple defense that held Bryan to minus-7 yards on its final six possessions a week ago. Meanwhile, Wildcats senior QB Kevin Lock will face standout linebacker Kyle Voss and Belton’s defense for the first time as a starter - and he’s looking forward to it.
“It’s real big for me,” said Lock, who’s thrown for eight touchdowns. “I’ve played Belton in baseball, too, but football is the biggest thing."
Not many on either side of this rivalry would disagree.
NOTES: The last three Temple-Belton games at Tiger Field have gone into overtime, with the Tigers winning in 2002 and the Wildcats prevailing in ’04 and ’06. . . . Temple senior QB Jonathan Bane, who transferred from Rogers last fall, will be eligible tonight to play his first varsity game with the Wildcats. . . . Ricky Crow (play-by-play) and Gene Pemberton (color/analysis) will have Temple’s radio broadcast on KTEM-AM 1400. Jamie Garrett (play-by-play) and Chuck Douglas (color/analysis) will cover the Belton side of things on KLTD-FM 101.7.
gwille@temple-telegram.com
