Making mistakes that were uncharacteristic of the way they played during a five-game winning streak, the Temple Wildcats simply ran out of gas.
Murphy ran for 227 yards and four touchdowns and returned a blocked punt for a score, DeSoto limited Lache Seastrunk to 59 rushing yards and Temple committed five turnovers as the Eagles beat the Wildcats 40-14 in a Class 5A Division I bi-district playoff game on a sunny, windy Saturday afternoon at Waco ISD Stadium.
“After five weeks of playing very hard football, I think our tank was a little empty today,” said Temple coach Bryce Monsen, whose Wildcats (5-6) lost their first five games but won their next five to share second place in District 12-5A. “We didn’t have a lot of energy, for whatever reason.
“From how well we had been playing, we expected it to be a great football game today, but we made so many mistakes.”
DeSoto broke open a 6-0 game by scoring three touchdowns in a 7-minute span during the second quarter en route to a 26-6 halftime lead.
Temple’s Daniel Carr rushed for 150 yards and an 82-yard second-quarter touchdown, and fellow senior Patrick Johnson produced the Wildcats’ other score by returning his blocked punt for a 5-yard TD with three minutes left in the game.
Meanwhile, it was a successful playoff debut as DeSoto’s coach for Claude Mathis, the former Bartlett star who helped lead the Bulldogs to Class A state championships in 1990 and ’92.
His Eagles (6-5), who were 1-4 in non-district but responded to tie for the 11-5A title, dominated both sides of the ball and reached an area-round clash with 10-1 Dallas Skyline.
“I’m very proud of how we played today and we worked hard in practice this week,” Mathis said. “The preseason schedule we played has been really huge for us. We’re very experienced even though we’ve got a young ballclub.”
Said Monsen of DeSoto: “We knew how good they were. They came off the football hard on both sides and they’ve got an explosive team.”
A prominent storyline for Temple coming into Saturday was that speedy junior Seastrunk needed only 86 yards - 59 below his per-game average - to surpass Delarrius Wilson (3,069 yards from 1992-93) as the Wildcats’ all-time leading rusher.
But DeSoto’s fast, powerful defense - which swarmed Seastrunk on inside runs and was quick enough to seal the edges - never let him break free for one of his customary long touchdown sprints. None of Seastrunk’s 16 carries went for longer than 15 yards, and he’ll enter his senior season 27 yards short of the record.
Said Mathis: “We tried to hit him when he was in the backfield, and we wanted to have contain on the outside. We kept going back to our gameplan.”
Part of Temple’s problem was losing senior center Brett Gunn, a two-year starter, to an ankle injury on its second series.
A big, strong DeSoto line led by tackle/nose guard Jeff Claremond controlled the point of attack, and the Wildcats struggled on exchanges between their backup centers and quarterback Kevin Lock.
Overall, Temple had eight fumbles and lost four.
“You can’t win with fumbles,” Monsen said.
And when DeSoto had the ball, the Eagles knew what to do with it - give it to Murphy, a fleet-footed junior who pushed his season touchdown total to 23. Using exceptional blocking from his hulking line, Murphy scored on runs of 53, 21, 28 and 2 yards.
He demonstrated his versatility 4½ minutes into the second quarter, picking up a deflected punt at Temple’s 22-yard and returning it for the second of his five touchdowns.
“I didn’t want to say too much about him this week, but he’s going to be one of the premier backs in the nation next year,” Mathis said of Murphy. “I also thought our offensive line played a tremendous game today.”
DeSoto had the game’s first possession and drove to its 47-yard line, then Murphy ripped through a hole on the right side and raced untouched for a 53-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead.
Temple’s defense delivered a huge stand on DeSoto’s second drive, with the Eagles marching from their 1 to the Wildcats’ 30 before Temple stuffed three consecutive runs for a turnover on downs.
However, Seastrunk mishandled a handoff on the next play and DeSoto standout linebacker Zachary Orr recovered the fumble.
The Eagles used a big play on special teams to increase their lead. With Temple punting from its 13 4½ minutes into the second quarter, a DeSoto player charged in to get a piece of Chris Winkler’s kick, and the ball rolled to the 22. And when no Wildcat tried to pick it up, Murphy did and took it in for a TD and a 12-0 advantage.
A fumbled snap on Temple’s next possession gave the ball to DeSoto at the Wildcat 21, and Murphy raced off right tackle to score and make it 19-0.
Senior running back Carr then gave Temple a much-needed spark, taking a handoff, blasting through the line and outrunning a defender down the left side for an 82-yard score and a 19-6 game with 5:21 left before halftime.
But Temple’s next possession ended with another fumbled snap and another Orr recovery at the Wildcat 28, and Murphy made Temple pay by charging through the left side for a 28-yard TD only 55 seconds before the half for a 26-6 lead.
Temple’s defense rebounded to pitch a scoreless third quarter, but the Wildcats’ offense never got much going, even after senior Jonathan Bane replaced Bane at QB.
Murphy and Antoine Jimmerson each scored a short rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter to turn the game into a 40-6 rout.
Johnson gave Temple a final highlight. He broke through to block Brandon Johnson’s punt, scooped up the ball at the 5 and dove in for a touchdown before Bane’s two-point run completed the scoring.
Monsen and his team had hoped to play better and get Temple’s first playoff win since 2003, but he took some solace in the fact that the Wildcats rallied from their 0-5 start to gain a second straight playoff berth for the first time since 1996-97.
“I feel bad for our kids and especially our seniors, because it was not their best game,” Monsen said. “But they went 5-2 in a very tough district and we’re grateful to get back to the playoffs. Our kids played hard and they finished it out."
gwille@temple-telegram.com
