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BELTON — Turnovers and a stout opposing rushing attack doomed the Elgin High School varsity football team on Sept. 29 as the Wildcats were defeated 45-16 at the hands of undefeated Belton High School on a night the Tigers celebrated Homecoming.
“Belton is a great program. They find ways to win even when they don’t play their best,” Elgin head coach Heath Clawson said. “That’s what great teams and great coaching does. They are undefeated because they believe they are going to win every game, they don’t beat themselves and they make timely plays.”
Elgin seemed to get off to a great start in the first quarter when the Tigers fumbled their first offensive play. The Wildcats were able to drive the ball downfield with senior quarterback Nathen Lewis at the helm but the drive stalled. However, they were able to get some points out of it when Elgin senior kicker Paden Maass booted a 40-yard field goal to give the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter.
Unfortunately for Elgin, the offense could not get much of anything going for the majority of the night as the Belton defense forced turnovers and capitalized with points. As a team, the Tigers scored on an interception returned for a touchdown, had five scores on the ground in the first three quarters and as a team rushed for 271 yards.
With the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were able to get something going. On a botched handoff by the Belton quarterback, Elgin senior defensive lineman Peyton Grant showed great awareness when he snatched the ball and ran 44 yards for a defensive touchdown to get the Wildcats into the endzone for the first time on the evening.
Junior quarterback Blake Thames, who came in for some quality reps under center late in the game, called his own number on a quarterback run and outran the Tiger defense for a 44-yard score in the fourth quarter to cut the Belton lead to 45-16.
Following the loss, the Wildcats (3-3 overall record and 1-1 district mark) will look to get back in the win column at 7 p.m. this Friday night when Elgin hosts Killeen Chaparral High School.
