Belton Fights Off Waco, 29-23: Late Touchdown Keeps Tigers in 10-5A-II Playoff Hunt

WACO — Belton fought for nine weeks before recording its first win of the season as it let out a long-awaited emotional release last Friday. The renewed Tigers needed just a few days to find their next victory, but they had to claw a full 48 minutes to get there. Damien Tiumalu scored a 42-yard touchdown on his first reception of the year with 2 minutes left and Kegan Sherwood followed with a game-sealing interception about 40 seconds later to mark Belton’s third turnover of the night as it claimed a hard-fought 29-23 comeback win over Waco in a District 10-5A-II meeting at Waco ISD Stadium on Friday night. “Our defense was ball-hawks tonight, got after it, especially that last play by Kegan. It’s amazing. We always see Kegan and Tiumalu’s names there and those two made some big plays in the fourth quarter for us. Turnovers were big, especially when we were struggling,” said Belton head coach Brett Sniffin, whose team stayed in the hunt for a fourth straight playoff bid by notching its second win in as many weeks. Belton (2-7, 2-2) drove to touchdowns on half of its possessions over the first 24 minutes and got a defensive TD during that time on Sherwood’s 48-yard fumble return early in the second quarter, but Waco (2-7, 0-4) used big plays to stay step-for-step with the Tigers until the break. Belton’s offense then went cold over the final two frames until it woke up after the Lions’ Alberto Rodriguez drilled a 32-yard field goal with 6:18 remaining to provide Waco a short-lived 23-21 advantage. “They did something a little unconventional (defensively) and it caused us some fits and we didn’t really react to it well, so it was good to see some plays like that on the defense to turn it over and help us,” said Sniffin, whose team was outgained 265-230 by Waco but limited the Lions to just 54 yards rushing on 31 carries. Trailing by eight at the break, Waco needed just three plays to find the end zone in the third when RJ Young located Bryant Whitaker Jr. on a 53-yard connection for Whitaker’s second TD of the night. Young came in with six interceptions and no TDs through his first three district games but finished 10-of-16 passing for 216 yards and three TDs as the Lions stayed in it mostly thanks to their passing game. Whitaker, who scored on a 90-yard grab in the opening quarter, led all players with four receptions for 161 yards. Belton set up its game-winning drive after forcing a Waco three-and-out with about 3:15 left and taking over at midfield following a 16-yard punt. Will Shepard then hit Tiumalu on their 42-yard strike down the left side that was set up by play-action movement on which the Lions’ defense bit, creating space for a wide-open Tiumalu on fourth-and-2. “We tried to set up that all night and we knew it’d be there because they were going to sell out to stop it, so that was a big play,” Sniffin said. It marked Shepard’s second touchdown toss of the night after the sophomore capped a 10-play drive to close the second quarter by finding Collin Taylor across the middle for a 28-yard TD on third-and-13. Taylor shed a couple defenders near the goal line as he crossed the plane for his second TD of the year to provide a 21-13 margin to take into the locker room. Shepard, who was 9-of-15 passing for 111 yards with two scores and two interceptions, also had a 7-yard touchdown run to start the Tigers’ scoring. Belton covered 60 yards on 13 plays, reeling off five first downs on the game’s opening drive that included five Gino Zecca carries for 24 yards and ended with Shepard’s team-leading ninth rushing score of the year when he pulled his read and kept it left for an early 7-0 edge. The Tigers then forced a three-and-out, but Waco’s Isaiah Levingston intercepted an overthrown Shepard pass to quickly snuff out Belton’s next drive. Waco’s Jamal Dudley-Johnson later dived to pick off an underthrown Shepard pass in the second half. Zecca finished with a game-high 75 yards rushing on 20 carries for the Tigers, who finish the regular season by hosting league-leading Brenham next Friday. BEL TON 29, WACO 23 Belton 7 14 0 8 — 29 Waco 6 7 7 3 — 23 Bel — Will Shepard 7yd run (Cole Angell kick) Waco — Bryant Whitaker Jr. 90yd pass from RJ Young (run failed) Bel — Kegan Sherwood 48yd fumble return (Angell kick) Waco — Mason Smith 38yd pass from Young (Alberto Rodriguez kick) Bel — Collin Taylor 28yd pass from Shepard (Angell kick) Waco — Whitaker 53yd pass from Young (Rodriguez kick) Waco — Rodriguez 32yd field goal Bel — Damien Tiumalu 42yd pass from Shepard (Collin Sallee pass from Shepard) TEAM STATISTICS Bel Waco First downs 13 12 Rushes-yards 40-119 31-54 Passing yards 111 211 Comp.-Att.-Int. 9-15-2 10-16-211-1 Punts-average 3-28 4-28 Fumbles-lost 0 1-1 Penalties-yards 9-55 3-29 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — Belton: Gino Zecca 20-75, Sherwood 7-40, Shepard 10-10, team 3-(-6); Waco: Mason Smith 14-45, Lil’Steven Loyd 6-22, Whitaker 1-5, Young 10-(-18). PASSING — Belton: Shepard 9-15-2-111; Waco: Young 10-16-1-211. RECEIVING — Belton: Tiumalu 1-42, Gavin Ross 4-30, Taylor 1-28, Sallee 1-9, Achilles Palomares 1-1, Zecca 1-1; Waco: Whitaker 4-161, Smith 1-38, Zay’drian Johnson 4-26, Chayse Rhynes 1-6. PHOTO CAPTION: Belton’s Collin Taylor eludes Waco’s Lil’Steven Loyd (1) on a kickoff return during the Tigers’ victory over the Lions on Friday night.

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BELTON FIGHTS OFF WACO, 29-23: LATE TOUCHDOWN KEEPS TIGERS IN 10-5A-II PLAYOFF HUNT

JON BROOKS | TELEGRAM STAFF

Temple Daily Telegram | 11/2/2024

PHOTO CREDIT: Ray Swindle/Special to the Telegram