The teams met again Friday and fought tooth-and-nail to stay in the playoff race.
Belton led late in the third quarter following Azian Wilkinson’s pick-6, but the Trojans notched two touchdowns within the first 3 minutes of the final frame to help them turn away the Tigers and hold on for a hard-fought 35-25 victory in a District 10-5A-II matchup at Tiger Field.
Wilkinson gathered Savoy Nichols’ pass and turned it down the left sideline for a 41-yard interception return for a touchdown to put the Tigers ahead 25-21 with 1:55 left in the third as each team sought its first league win.
It marked the fifth of six lead changes as Belton (0-7, 0-2) pushed University (5-2, 1-1) to the brink until three fourth-quarter turnovers ultimately doomed its comeback hopes.
“Our kids played hard, played tough, gave everything they have. We really had a great week of practice. The kids had fun, we got after it. I was real proud of them for the way they came through to keep battling,” Belton head coach Brett Sniffin said. “We’re just looking for that ball to bounce our way a little bit. We got a lot of bounces last year and maybe we took them all up, but we have to make our own breaks there in the fourth quarter.”
The Tigers defeated the Trojans in 2022 and 2023 en route to claiming back-to-back league titles, but University had answers when it needed them Friday.
The Trojans drove 60 yards in eight plays to go up 28-25 when Nichols found Jimare Thomas for a 46-yard touchdown after Thomas slipped behind a Belton defender following Nichols’ pump fake.
University jumped on a Belton fumble on the next play from scrimmage and, less than 2 minutes later, Nichols kept it around the right side from 7 yards out to provide some breathing room.
University’s Davontrae Kirkland and Zechariah Ruiz later intercepted Will Shepard passes to cut short two Tigers drives as they tried to claw back.
“I’m proud of the kids because they just keep coming to practice and keep battling and we’re going to keep doing the same thing,” Sniffin said. “We are more competitive and we’re playing harder, and we’re playing mostly smarter. We just have to continue to work on it and get better.”
Belton struck first after it squibbed the opening kickoff, which bounced off a University player then was pounced on by the Tigers’ Jahari James at the Trojans 35.
Shepard’s 11-yard pass to Gavin Ross advanced Belton inside the red zone, but the drive stalled and Cole Angell’s 30-yard field goal split the uprights to provide a 3-0 edge with just more than 3 minutes elapsed. Shepard finished with 94 yards passing and a team-best 64 yards on the ground.
University promptly responded when La Darrius Evans took his first touch of the night up the middle 60 yards to put his team in front 7-3 less than a minute later. He had a game-high 158 yards rushing on 22 carries.
Belton’s defense buckled down from there, though, making the Trojans work for the remainder of the first half.
The Tigers were turned over on downs then punted consecutive times as they struggled to find an early offensive rhythm, but they stayed close by forcing two University punts.
The Trojans finally put together another scoring drive late in the second quarter after a 16-yard Belton punt set them up in positive territory.
Nichols found Ke’Andre Brooks on an 11-yard out pattern to pick up a first down on third-and-8. The pair again connected for 13 yards on another third down, and Cade Bynnom eventually punctuated things with a 14-yard TD jaunt to push the gap to 14-3 with less than 3 minutes left before halftime.
Then the Tigers’ offense got to work.
Aided by two crucial University penalties — a roughing-the-passer call and defensive holding — for two first downs, Belton covered 78 yards in 2:20 to pull within 14-11 when Shepard kept it for 10 yards around the right side then punched in the 2-point run on a sneak.
WACO UNIVERSITY 35, BELTON 25
University 7 7 7 14 — 35
Belton 3 8 14 0 — 25
Bel — Cole Angell 30 field goal
Uni — La Darrius Evans 60 run (Micah Hatten kick)
Uni — Cade Bynnom 14 run (Hatten kick)
Bel — Will Shepard 10 run (Shepard run)
Bel — Kegan Sherwood 29 run (Angell kick)
Uni — Bynnom 3 run (Hatten kick)
Bel — Azian Wilkinson 41 interception return (Angell kick)
Uni — Jimare Thomas 46 pass from Savoy Nichols (Hatten kick)
Uni — Nichols 7 run (Hatten kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
Uni Bel
First downs 21 13
Rushes-yards 45-230 25-133
Passing yards 129 95
Comp.-Att.-Int. 11-22-1 11-26-2
Punts-average 2-29 3-40.3
Fumbles-lost 0 2-1
Penalties-yards 12-78 8-47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — University: Evans 22-158, Bynnom 12-71, Darrius Thomas 4-22, Nichols 5-(-9), team 2-(-12); Belton: Shepard 11-64, Sherwood 3-38, Gino Zecca 10-34, Achilles Palomares 1-(-3).
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