But right now, Temple isn't approaching the rest of its schedule as a three-game season. For the Wildcats, who stand 2-5 overall and 1-3 in District 12-5A, it's really a one-game season - they must win at Bryan on Friday night.
"We know it's a big game with our backs to the wall," said Temple coach Bryce Monsen, whose team is coming off of a 29-28 overtime loss to Harker Heights last Friday on homecoming. "It's one game at a time for us right now."
Along with knocking off the surging Vikings (4-3, 3-1) on Friday, Temple must beat rival Belton (6-1, 3-1) - one of four teams tied for the 12-5A lead - in next Thursday's nationally televised game at Wildcat Stadium and then win at struggling Shoemaker (0-7, 0-4) in Week 10 on Nov. 6.
Defending champion Copperas Cove (6-1, 3-1) and College Station A&M Consolidated (4-3, 3-1) share the league lead with Belton and Bryan. The remaining schedule favors all four of those teams getting at least one more district win, so grabbing the fourth playoff spot with just three 12-5A victories doesn't seem to be an option this year.
"We've thought all along that four (district) wins will get you in the playoffs, even though (Killeen) Shoemaker got in with three last year," Monsen said. "We have to go play one at a time and find a way to win three games to have a chance."
Because Temple is two games behind Cove and Consol and has lost to both of them, it's very unlikely that the Wildcats can catch them in the standings. By beating Bryan and Belton, however, Temple would have a shot to catch them and also would gain potentially crucial head-to-head tiebreaker advantages.
Harker Heights (2-5, 2-2) leads Temple by one game for fifth place, but the Knights face a difficult remaining schedule - home against Consol on Friday, at Bryan next Friday and home against Cove.
The good news for Temple: The Wildcats were 6-0 against Bryan, Belton and Shoemaker in 2007 and '08, though the Vikings have made strides this season and the Tigers are much-improved from their previous two years.
Monsen laments no-call
on Heights' winning play
On Wednesday, Monsen didn't want to make excuses for Temple's one-point loss to Harker Heights, but he did want to point out something that might have helped Kerry Sloan score on a two-point run to give the Knights the win.
A video review shows that Heights receiver Kendric Smith, blocking along the right side on an option play, grabs the jersey of Temple cornerback Ryan Powell with both hands and won't let him go when Powell attempts to break free - a clear candidate for a holding penalty.
Instead of looking at the contact between Smith and Powell, the game official along the goal line appears to be looking directly at Sloan, who was running in open space around the 7-yard line. The official also moved up the sideline to at least the 5 - rather than backing up and remaining along the goal line - in an attempt to get out of the way of a possible collision near the right pylon.
Neither Powell nor any other defender managed to get over to stop Sloan (31 carries for 119 yards) as he dove just inside the pylon for two points and the 29-28 Heights victory.
Monsen said he planned to contact the Texas Association of Sports Officials to request an explanation on the final play's call - or lack thereof.
Several Wildcat defenders
have big nights vs. Knights
Harker Heights wound up rushing for 317 yards on a whopping 60 attempts against Temple, but Sloan, the area's second-leading rusher, needed 31 carries to gain 119 yards - just 3.8 per carry.
The Wildcats' only big-play breakdowns were quarterback Brandon Bullock's 50-yard touchdown keeper in the first quarter and Deandre Jones' 25-yard TD scamper on Heights' first offensive play in overtime.
Temple senior lineman Nich Crosswhite made a team-best 12 tackles and recovered a fumble; senior safety Donovan Shumpert had 10 tackles to push his team-leading total to 88; and sophomore linebacker Antonio Barrow made a sack among his 10 tackles plus an interception and a fumble recovery.
Also, Steven Boggess had nine tackles, fellow senior linebacker Derrick Davis (101 rushing yards, two TDs) had half a sack among his 6½ stops and junior nose guard Jesus Rodriguez added six tackles plus his eighth forced fumble.
Seastrunk now on pace for
third 1,000-yard season
For the first time this year, Temple senior running back Lache Seastrunk is on pace for his third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season.
Seastrunk's 113-yard game against Harker Heights pushed his total to 710 yards, an average of 101.4 per game. His previous rushing games this season were 80, 80, 113, 87, 103 and 134 yards for a total of 597. Coming into this season, he had run for 3,043 yards in two varsity seasons - 138.3 per game in 22 outings.
Early this season Seastrunk surpassed Delarrius Wilson to become Temple's all-time leader in rushing yards and total touchdowns. Now he needs 247 rushing yards to reach 4,000 for his career, and with 10 overall touchdowns this year he needs three for 50.
gwille@temple-telegram.com
