BELTON — Belton secured a slim win over Waco last fall by mounting a late game-winning touchdown drive after falling behind for the first time with 6 minutes remaining.

The Tigers needed no such drama Friday.

A powerful ground game coupled with another typical big night from junior receiver Gavin Ross helped Belton hold off the Lions as the Tigers scored 14 consecutive points to start and finish the game to record a playoff-sealing 42-18 victory in their home finale Thursday night at Tiger Field.

Waco (0-9, 0-4 in District 10-5A-II) used a few big plays to stick with Belton (5-4, 3-1) through the middle of the third quarter, but each Lions outburst was met with a Tigers rebuttal as they claimed their fifth straight postseason berth with their third victory in the last four games.

“That’s important, and also we have a chance to host a playoff game if things go our way,” said Belton head coach Brett Sniffin, whose team travels to district-leading Brenham to close the regular season next Friday. With a win over the Cubs and a Brenham win over Waco University tonight, Belton could force a three-way tie for first place.

“First of all, we need to take care of business, and that will go a long way toward it — and get a share of that gold ball. We want to win championships, and we’re going into the last game with an opportunity to take one. So you can’t ask for anything more than that,” Sniffin continued.

It was largely thanks to a stout ground game that churned out a season-high 336 yards — with two Belton rushers eclipsing the century mark and another coming just short — along with a six-catch, 114-yard showing from Ross that helped the Tigers stay in control.

Five Belton players notched touchdown runs, and Ross capped the scoring by nabbing a 30-yard haul from Will Shepard, whose pump fake helped Ross break free over the middle with less than 4 minutes remaining as the Tigers led from start to finish.

Shepard finished 8-of-11 passing for 146 yards with one interception and one touchdown.

Though Belton outgained Waco 482-227 and produced 27 first downs to the Lions’ eight, Waco stuck around behind a few timely big plays.

Zay’drian Johnson slipped behind the secondary with 3:25 left in the third quarter to reel in a 32-yard touchdown pass on third-and-19 from Waco backup quarterback Jordan Alvarez, who came in for starter Bryant Whitaker Jr. after he took a hard hit early in the second quarter and didn’t return.

Johnson’s TD cut the gap to 28-18 and was set up by a 72-yard run from Lv’tamarion Marshall after the Tigers pinned the Lions deep, but Belton answered with Shepard’s 2-yard touchdown plunge on a sneak barely more than 3 minutes later, and Waco didn’t score again.

“They scared me on film because you could see them improving, kind of like we improved last year. We were 0-and-whatever and we came in to play (Bryan) Rudder, so I was scared because I knew they were getting better. And (Waco head coach Esrom Martinez) has stayed focused on fundamentals, and you can tell. They had some kids who made plays, but we responded when we needed to,” said Sniffin, whose team acted in kind to each Waco threat.

Sniffin sets a goal of 200 yards rushing each week for his team, and the Tigers nearly had that by halftime.

Gino Zecca led the charge with 109 yards rushing on 23 carries, with Shepard following at 101 yards on 12 attempts. Javid Planz accounted for 93 yards on 16 totes. All three notched one TD run apiece that they added to touchdown carries from Ross and Cason Morton.

Zecca’s 4-yard burst finished off a 61-yard drive to start the second half and pushed Belton’s lead to 28-11, the largest it swelled until the end.

“It’s just like I’ve told you guys before, it’s a scratch where it itches offense, and wherever they give us, that’s what we’re going to take,” Sniffin said. “They were playing those secondary guys sitting back there, so we just ran the ball. Took ball control, guys took care of their business and got it done.”

Belton pounded out 15 first downs to Waco’s six by sticking to the ground for most of the first two quarters — when the Tigers attempted only six passes — and found enough success to take the early lead and stay in front.

Five Belton players combined for 180 yards rushing in the first half, when three of them — Ross, Planz and Morton — each stepped into the end zone one time to help the Tigers build a 21-11 halftime advantage.

Ross staked his team to a 7-0 lead midway through the opening quarter when he took a sweep 5 yards around the right side, stretching the ball across the plane on third-and-goal to cap a nine-play, 50-yard drive after Belton’s defense stopped the Lions on a three-and-out to start the contest.

The Tigers then drove to the Waco 5 on their ensuing possession, but Taylor Freeman wrestled away a Shepard pass from Ross in the end zone to snuff out the scoring chance.

Belton quickly recovered, though, forcing another three-and-out that was followed by a 10-play, 68-yard procession that included two first-down runs apiece from Shepard and Zecca and another from Planz, whose 8-yard tote through the left side pushed the gap to 14-0 with 8:25 left in the half.

From there, Waco showed signs of life — notching points on each of its final two drives — to crawl back within striking distance by the end of the half.

Jaylen Gude’s 11-yard run up the middle on a fake punt extended the Lions’ next drive, eventually leading to Lane Jones’ 31-yard touchdown rumble up the gut on fourth-and-1 to jumpstart the Lions, who got an ensuing 2-point run from Eric Taylor Jr. to trim the deficit to 14-8 with 4:28 left in the second period.

Carlos Rodriguez later closed the half by line driving a 35-yard field goal just through the uprights as time expired in the second quarter, though Belton responded in between to help it keep a two-possession edge.

Following the Lions’ first score, the Tigers took just 2 ½ minutes to extend the margin back to 21-8 when Morton dozed in 3 yards on first-and-goal a play after Shepard connected with Ross on a long 35-yard haul over the middle. Ross had four grabs for 74 yards in the first half, when was the lone Tiger to catch a pass.

BELTON 42, WACO 18