CUERO — Belton struggled to find traction in the running game last week when it finished with minus-16 yards on the ground in a loss.
The story changed a week later, and almost altered the outcome along with it.
In the end, Cuero’s high-powered offense did just enough to keep the Tigers at bay, however, as the Gobblers hung on through a wild second half to post a 50-43 victory in a non-district game Friday night at Gobbler Field.
Belton (2-3) got 203 yards rushing from Gino Zecca and 273 yards passing from sophomore Sawyer Harbin in his debut as a varsity starter, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Cuero (5-0), which rang up 36 points in the second half when it scored a touchdown on every possession but two to serve the Tigers their third straight loss as they head into an open week.
“We look at it two ways. We turned the ball over a couple times on offense, and we failed to get a couple stops on defense, and that’s what the difference was,” said Belton head coach Brett Sniffin, whose team appeared to score a game-tying touchdown with 50 seconds remaining on a 49-yard completion to Gavin Ross that was negated by a holding penalty. “We couldn’t control anything else on the field, and that’s what we could control, and we failed at that and that was the difference.”
After trailing 42-24 with 4:07 left in the third quarter, Belton fought back to take a 43-42 lead early in the fourth when Harbin found Ross for a 52-yard scoring strike a play after the Tigers recovered an onside kick following Harbin’s 6-yard TD toss to Asa Thomas that cut the gap to 42-37.
Harbin finished 18-of-32 passing for 273 yards and three TDs with two interceptions while filling in for starter Will Shepard, who didn’t play after leaving last week’s loss to San Angelo Central in the second quarter after taking a big hit.
That 14-point swing took just 16 seconds to flip the lead back in the Tigers’ favor, but the Gobblers promptly reeled off a 15-play, 94-yard scoring drive that included three third-down conversions to take the lead back.
Belton held Cuero quarterback Jaxxon Marie to minus-13 yards rushing, but the senior made the play that counted most with his legs when he capped the march with a 6-yard touchdown on a keeper then found Melo Perez for the 2-point pass to push the gap to 50-43 with 1:53 left.
Belton advanced to Cuero’s 49 on its ensuing drive when Harbin connected with Ross, who shed two tacklers near the 25 yard line and powered over the goal line with less than a minute left but the officials called the play back on a hold, and four plays later, Cuero’s Aiden Strecker intercepted a Harbin pass to seal the outcome.
“Gavin made a fantastic play to tie the game, and it gets taken away,” Sniffin said. “We scored. What more could we do? Our kids fought, and they gave everything they had, but we have to get better than that when we come into district in two weeks.”
Tied 14-14 at the half, the teams combined for 45 points during a breakneck third quarter that included a 21-point swing for the Gobblers that helped them build an 18-point gap during a 2-minute stretch midway through the frame.
Harbin’s 42-yard touchdown strike to Achilles Palomares gave Belton a 24-21 edge with 8:11 left in the third but Cuero first got a 15-yard TD toss from Marie to D’Zayvin Bonner, after which Kaimarye Lopez snuffed out Belton’s next drive by recovering a fumble.
The Gobblers then got a 41-yard touchdown run from Jordan Jones, recovered the ensuing pooch kick and Marie then found Walker Dietze for a 30-yard TD into the right corner of the end zone to move the lead to 42-24.
Dietze had nine grabs for 159 yards and two scores, while Ross paced Belton with seven catches for 138 yards, marking his fifth straight game eclipsing the 100-yard barrier.
Marie finished 23-of-33 for 314 yards and five touchdowns, two of which also found Bonner.
Belton will host Killeen Ellison in its district opener following next week’s open date.
jbrooks@tdtnews.com
