Belton holds off Ellison in wild homecoming clash

BELTON — Belton and Killeen Ellison combined for almost 100 points to open league play last fall and each entered Friday’s rematch boasting two of the three top offenses in District 8-5A-II. Then they one-upped their efforts from a year ago, this time eclipsing the century mark as the Tigers built a 27-point lead early in the third quarter then held off the hard-charging Eagles through a wild second half to record a 57-48 homecoming victory on a mild night at Tiger Field. Both squads brought unblemished league marks into the tilt, and they fought tooth-and-nail for the next 48 minutes in order to keep their ledgers that way. In the end, Belton (6-2, 3-0) did so behind a charged-up special teams unit that got them started and made big plays all night, followed by an offense that cranked out eight touchdowns and a defense that made the necessary stops at the end to help the Tigers overcome four second-half turnovers as the Eagles (4-4, 2-1) got as close as two points midway through the fourth quarter. “Obviously we just gave up too many opportunities on defense. Offense did everything we needed tonight. We’ve been kind of waiting on that moment, the explosion from everybody, not just Will (Shepard) and Gavin (Ross), but we had multiple receivers — Josh Brown had a night — and all those guys played so well,” said Belton head coach Josh Mann, whose team had 497 yards to Ellison’s 455. “But our defense when we had to, made the stops to secure this win, and to go 3-0 in this district against some of the athletes that we’re seeing, I’m really proud of our kids.” Shepard threw four of his seven touchdowns in the opening half when the Tigers turned six possessions into five TDs to build a 20-point halftime lead. The senior quarterback finished 22-of-32 passing for 383 yards with three interceptions. Three of those TDs found Gavin Ross, who had nine grabs for 131 yards including scores of 37, 32 and 18 yards, the last of which gave the Tigers the breathing room they needed to finish off Ellison. Following Marlyn Smith’s 68-yard touchdown run on a third-and-3 that cut the Tigers’ advantage to 50-48 with 4:55 left, Belton stopped the ensuing 2-point try on a slant pattern that fell short to keep the lead in hand. Then Belton mounted a seven-play drive that covered 70 yards, capped by Ross’ 18-yard catch-and-score that Shepard delivered while under heavy pressure from an Eagles’ defender. “We made a lot of mistakes, but we had to lock back in and not look at the scoreboard and continue to do what we had to do,” said Ross, who was crowned homecoming king during halftime. Brown added TD grabs of 6 and 28 yards, the latter one coming to start the third quarter by pushing the Tigers’ lead to 41-14, it’s largest of the night, while Javid Planz tacked on a 54-yard touchdown grab from Shepard later in the stanza while also pacing Belton on the ground with 53 yards on 12 carries. Ellison responded with 28 points over the final 5-plus minutes of the third, getting scores on a 1-yard Smith run, a 32-yard Cameron Wingfield interception return, a 73-yard run from Laboris Creagh and a 33-yard strike from Smith to Tyler Reed to close the frame by getting within 50-42. Creagh had 190 yards rushing on 11 totes, including an 87-yard sprint to the house on the second play from scrimmage to put the Eagles in front 7-0 just seconds into the game. Smith finished with 107 yards rushing and 182 yards on 14-of-27 passing with two interceptions. Ellison rushed for just 11 yards the rest of the first half, however, and Belton needed just 9 seconds to match the Eagles’ touchdown when a 55-yard kickoff return from Graham Chambley set up a short field and Shepard connected with Cason Morton for a 29-yard score along the left sideline on the Tigers’ first play. Chambley also blocked a PAT in the second half that he scooped up and pitched back to Anthony Garcia, who returned it the rest of the way for two points midway through the third quarter. Garcia jumped on a muffed Eagles kickoff return in the first half that Shepard cashed in with a 2-yard TD run for a 20-7 edge. Garcia added an interception to stop Ellison’s next drive, after which Shepard found Brown for his first score.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Belton High School Athletics

BELTON HOLDS OFF ELLISON IN WILD HOMECOMING CLASH

JON BROOKS

Temple Daily Telegram | 10/26/2026

PHOTO CREDIT: Jon Farrow