Tonight, they'll walk onto the Leo Buckley Stadium turf with nothing to play for but pride.

With Temple having been eliminated from playoff contention with last week's home loss to rival Belton and Shoemaker winless, the Wildcats (3-6 overall, 2-4 in District 12-5A) and the injury-ravaged Grey Wolves (0-9, 0-6) will finish the season with a 7:30 p.m. meeting at Buckley.

"We like how our kids have worked hard this week, and they're excited to go play," Temple fifth-year coach Bryce Monsen said. "Obviously we would like to have this game be one of our better games."

For Temple, the situation is a far cry from its Week 10 scenarios of 2007 and 2008.

Two years ago at Buckley, the Wildcats ripped Killeen Ellison 39-7 to complete their first undefeated district record since 1985, and last year at home they whipped Shoemaker 42-14 to carry a five-game winning streak into the playoffs.

Behind senior stars Lache Seastrunk and Derrick Davis and other talented, experienced players, Temple entered 2009 with high hopes of earning a third consecutive postseason berth for the first time since 1995-97 and also making a long playoff run following back-to-back first-round defeats.

But district-opening losses to playoff-bound College Station A&M Consolidated and Copperas Cove put the Wildcats in a hole, an overtime home loss to Harker Heights (2-7, 2-4) made it deeper and last Thursday's turnover-ridden 17-6 setback against 12-5A co-leader Belton officially made it too deep to climb out of.

Although Monsen certainly is disappointed that tonight will end his team's season, he says there's still plenty to play for.

"Two years ago we got our first perfect district record in 22 years and last year we finished 11-2 in district for the two years," Monsen said of what the last two Week 10 games meant. "This year we're trying to get one more district win for our seniors."

gwille@temple-telegram.com