That’s one way to look at it.

The fact that Cedar Park is good enough to have had its way with Austin Westlake a week ago - the Chaparrals scored two late-game touchdowns and still lost 31-21 at home - probably makes up for any scouting edge that the Wildcats might possess.

One thing is a sure thing: Temple, striving to build on the momentum it created by recording a perfect District 13-5A season in 2007, will have quite a challenge when it plays Cedar Park at 7:30 tonight at Bible Memorial Stadium.

“Our hands are full,” Wildcats coach Bryce Monsen said. “We went down to Westlake, and by the middle of the second quarter it was obvious to us that Cedar Park was very good.

“They took control of the game going into halftime and then they had about a 95-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter, and it was 31-7 with a few minutes left. They just physically got after Westlake.”

As for whether it’s more of an advantage to have played a real game or to have closely scouted your first opponent, Monsen gave the edge to the Timberwolves.

“They’ve played a game and they won, so they should feel good about themselves,” he said. “We showed a little bit more in our second scrimmage (last Thursday at Pflugerville Connally than in the home scrimmage against Cedar Park Vista Ridge). I think the advantage is to them because they’ve played a game.”

Cedar Park fourth-year coach Chris Ross certainly is happy to have a win under his belt, but he’s not sure whether that gives his Timberwolves an edge against the Wildcats.

“To a degree it does, but I’ve seen it work both ways,” Ross said. “I know that anytime you start 1-0 that will put a smile on your face. I was pleased for the first game of the year because we took care of the ball and as the game went on we got progressively better.”

However, Ross added that watching Temple on film hasn’t given him the most comfortable of feelings.

“What jumps out at me is the speed they have . . . man, can they run,” he said. “And it’s all over the football field.”

A clear priority for Cedar Park is trying to limit the effectiveness of Temple junior running back Lache Seastrunk. An honorable-mention all-state player last season, he rushed for 1,532 yards and 19 touchdowns (10 on runs of 45 yards or longer), averaging 11.9 yards per carry.

But as big of a weapon as the speedy Seastrunk is, Cedar Park says it cannot target him at the expense of freeing up other threats in the Wildcats’ Wing-T attack.

“We’d love to just say we’re going to focus on him, but I don’t think you can just key on Lache,” Ross said. “Their other backs are pretty good, too, and their receiver (Baylor commitment Tevin Reese) has excellent speed.

“We’ve seen it (the Wing-T) and we have some experience with it, but we’re not real fired up to play it.”

Senior Kevin Lock, who played in several games as Chase Moore’s backup last year, will start at quarterback for Temple.

On Wednesday in Austin, the University Interscholastic League’s State Executive Committee denied Temple’s appeal that senior quarterback Jonathan Bane, who transferred from Rogers last fall, did not change schools for athletic purposes and should be eligible to play immediately.

Bane, who quarterbacked the Wildcats’ 7-on-7 summer team to a ninth-place finish at the state tournament, will not be eligible to play in games until October. That means junior Isaac Matamoros will back up Lock for the first four games.

Monsen declined to comment on the UIL’s ruling on Bane.

Getting back to how Temple’s Wing-T matches up with Cedar Park’s “50” defense, Ross says his players must be fundamentally sound to contain a Wildcat offense that rushed for 3,543 yards in 11 games last season.

“We focus on lining up correctly, reading our keys and maintaining our pad level,” said Ross, naming junior linebacker Joseph Nichol, junior end Holmes Onwukaife and senior end Tanner Estes his defensive leaders. “We want to make you beat us instead of beating ourselves.”

Seastrunk should have a dangerous counterpart in Cedar Park senior running Dedrick McKnight, who ripped through Westlake’s defense for 161 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. McKnight also caught an 11-yard TD pass from senior QB Drew Russo.

“He has very good speed, and he’s a good inside runner,” Monsen said. “He has the capability to score at any time, so we better rally to the football and wrap up.”

Landan Dockery added 55 rushing yards and Darren Thornhill 31 as the Timberwolves compiled 272 ground yards on 50 carries in a versatile offense that uses the shotgun and two backs most of the time. Senior left guard Ben Calloway is the top lineman.

“The defense dictates what we do - we take what they give us,” Ross said. “We’ve had games where we passed for 300 yards; we’ve had games where we ran for 400 yards.”

Junior middle linebacker Derrick Davis, junior rover Quinston Trejo and senior safety Deleon Patterson are among the leaders of a Temple defense that showed plenty of improvement from its first scrimmage to the second.

“It was just good to see the kids have some success last week,” Monsen said. “Our safeties really played well and played hard. We’re excited.”

A year ago, Temple gained significant confidence by beating South Garland - which went on to finish 10-2 - in its season opener, 21-17.

Now, the Wildcats know a road victory tonight against a strong Cedar Park squad could produce a similar impact.

“They’re all important,” Monsen said, “but when when you’ve had all summer to get ready, you’d really like to win that season opener.”