Sorry, but the Temple Wildcats' Nich Crosswhite and Jesus Rodriguez just don't subscribe to it. There's plenty of plays that need to be made, and they certainly don't mind being the guys to make them.

Crosswhite, a 6-2, 225-pound senior, is so quick, tough and active from his defensive end position that he ranks second on the team with 53 tackles. Rodriguez, a 5-8, 220-pound junior, is such a strong, penetrating force at nose guard that he's forced a staggering nine fumbles - five in the last three games - to go with 30 tackles.

Together, they helped lead a defense that contained Bryan's high-octane triple-option offense enough last Friday for Temple to earn a 17-14 road win that keeps the Wildcats (3-5 overall, 2-3 District 12-5A) in playoff contention entering their clash with rival Belton (7-1, 4-1) at 7 Thursday night at Wildcat Stadium.

Both Crosswhite and Rodriguez get high marks from Temple coach Bryce Monsen.

"With Nich making more tackles and Jesus playing well in the middle, the last three to four weeks they've had really good games," said Monsen, who's also gotten five sacks from senior end Silas Moten and 20 tackles from junior lineman De'Vante Daniels.

A case in point occurred in Bryan, where the Vikings, trailing 10-0 in the second quarter, drove from their 29-yard line to the Temple 1.

On fourth-and-goal quick quarterback Kesnick Taylor tried to take the snap and run right on an option play, but Rodriguez and Crosswhite got a strong push into the backfield and Taylor fumbled the ball, which the Wildcats' Antonio Barrow recovered for a crucial turnover on downs.

"Nich and I just needed to come off the ball and get there together," Rodriguez said. "We made him (fumble)."

Added Crosswhite about that key stop: "We just executed everything really well."

gwille@temple-telegram.com