Belton (2-6 overall, 2-3 in District 12-5A) controls its playoff destiny and looks to beat Bell County rival Temple (3-5, 3-2) at 7:30 tonight at Tiger Field, then defeat Bryan next week in order to clinch its first postseason berth since 2003.
“It’s pretty important to win this game right now if we want to be in the playoffs,” said Tigers senior linebacker Kyle Voss, who leads the team with 84 tackles.
With No. 7 Copperas Cove expected to clinch the 12-5A championship tonight with a win against College Station A&M Consolidated and Bryan and Harker Heights already eliminated from postseason contention, the final three playoff spots boil down to Temple, Consol (4-4, 3-2), Killeen Ellison (5-4, 3-3), Belton and Killeen Shoemaker (4-5, 3-3), which beat Ellison 49-35 on Thursday night.
If the Tigers win their final two games of the season, they would possibly finish second by owning the tiebreaker against Temple, Consol and Shoemaker. Even with a loss, Belton could still sneak into the playoffs.
A win tonight would also be a major step for the Tigers as they search for a breakthrough victory to key their rebuilding program.
Since being blown out by Ennis and Round Rock McNeil in its first two games of the season, Belton lost 34-33 to Mansfield Timberview in the final minute, blew a 19-0 third-quarter lead at Heights to fall 30-19 and lost 45-42 at Ellison on a game-winning field goal with 4 seconds left.
A victory over the Tigers’ archenemy certainly would redeem them for those missed opportunities.
“We try to approach this as a must win, as us taking a step forward,” Belton coach Rodney Southern said. “We have improved every week and we need to get over that next hurdle, which is beating a team that when you look player for player, speed and athleticism, everybody on our schedule is better than us in those two aspects. We have to beat one of those people.”
Tonight’s battle also marks the final home game for 23 Belton seniors who hope to beat Temple for the first time since 2005.
“It’s a big game. We’re going to bust our tail. We’re going to get this win,” Voss said. “Against our rival, on Halloween, it’s going to be cold - why not leave it all on the field?”
NOTES: With 10 pass completions, Belton will break its school record for most team completions in a season, set by Brock Rumfield and Brad Turner (171) in 1993. Sophomore quarterback David Ash needs 10 completions to break Rumfield’s mark of 164 in ’93. Ash set the school record with 29 completions against Copperas Cove, breaking Toby Rumfield’s 27 in 1990. . . . Junior receiver and area receptions leader Kevin Thornton, who missed last week’s game after suffering a concussion against Cove, returns to the lineup tonight. Junior running back Seth Alcozer likely is out for the season with a knee injury.
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
