BELTON — Coming off a six-turnover game last week, Belton was hopeful to flip that metric in its favor for Friday’s non-district clash with San Angelo Central.

The Tigers quickly started on the right track, recovering a pooch kick to open the game and intercepting the Bobcats’ first pass attempt on their second play from scrimmage to set up two short fields but couldn’t turn either chance into points.

Central eventually steadied itself and wore down Belton with a sharp game from senior wide receiver Jimmy Edwards — who had three touchdown receptions — and a run-by-committee approach that consistently found yards up the middle to help the Bobcats post a 49-21 win in a non-district game they never trailed at Tiger Field.

“I was proud of the fight coming out in the third quarter. We blew some chances in the first quarter where we stole some possessions with an interception and an onside kick and we did nothing with it,” said Belton head coach Brett Sniffin, whose team tallied touchdowns on its first two second-half possessions with backup quarterback Sawyer Harbin filling in for starter Will Shepard, who was knocked out of the game after taking a hard hit late in the first half.

The sophomore Harbin completed his first seven pass attempts and guided Belton (2-2) through an eight-play scoring drive that he capped with a 20-yard TD toss to Achilles Palomares to cut the Tigers’ deficit to 28-14 to open the second half.

Harbin then hooked up with Gavin Ross for a 25-yard touchdown on Belton’s ensuing drive, though Central (2-2) answered with a touchdown each time to keep the lead in hand. The Bobcats turned to their ball-carriers to finish off the outcome, using a combined 206 yards rushing from Darius Huitt (89), Zeyvion Johnson (63) and Elijah Allen (54) to keep the Tigers’ defense shuffling.

“We’re small and when teams are big and they keep running in multiple linemen, it’s going to be hard on us. We just have to learn how to fight through it,” said Sniffin, whose squad had minus-16 yards rushing on 19 carries.

Shepard finished 11-of-20 for 181 yards, including a 77-yard TD strike to Azian Wilkinson, before leaving the game after taking a hard hit on Belton’s last possession of the first half. Harbin was 15-of-22 for 148 yards.

After turning it over on their second play, the Bobcats didn’t again and converted their next four possessions into touchdowns to assume control as the first half wound down.

Edwards was responsible for the last three scores, crossing the goal line on passes of 60, 19 and 13 yards from Micah Smith to help Central build a 28-7 halftime edge as the senior wideout finished with eight catches for 166 yards.

Johnson rang up the Bobcats’ other TD with a 27-yard carry up the middle after he waited for space to open before cutting left and motoring the rest of the way for the game’s first points.

Wilkinson had a standout first half for the Tigers, recovering the opening kick that Belton pooched along the right sideline after it went untouched by the Bobcats, while also intercepting a pass and recording his team’s lone touchdown.

Wilkinson picked off Smith’s first pass attempt on Central’s first possession after it glanced off Casner Stribling’s hands, but Belton didn’t capitalize either time, turning over the ball on downs on its first three possessions, which each reached Bobcats territory.

Wilkinson and Shepard needed just 14 seconds to make for Belton’s first score, though, as they immediately responded to Edwards’ first TD grab by connecting on a 77-yard touchdown strike along the left sideline to pull the Tigers within 14-7 with 4:38 left in the first quarter.

The margin moved to 21-7 by the close of the frame when Edwards capped a six-play drive by scoring from 19 yards out on a slant pattern.

Central maintained the line of scrimmage by holding Belton to minus-18 yards rushing in the first half, including two plays that lost 10-plus yards each on mishandled snaps and another that ended in a fumble recovered by the Bobcats.

Ross had 12 grabs for 118 yards for the Tigers, who travel to Cuero to finish non-district next Friday.