KDH Pressbox

BELTON — Rodney Southern darted around the defense and dropped off a perfect pass to the outstretched hands of his wide receiver.

The Belton coach was almost as giddy as the children surrounding him playing a game of keepaway in the end zone.

After all, moments earlier the Tiger trickster had done it again.

He called for an onside kick, a hook and ladder, a deep pass on third and 10 with the game potentially on the line, two two-point conversions and a fake punt, and most of it worked to perfection.
Those calculated gambles Friday allowed Belton to rally from a 15-point deficit and defeat Bryan 36-27 at Tiger Stadium.

"We did not do real good in the first half on (the trick plays)," Southern said. "But that onside kick was pretty good."

After going ahead 22-21 in the third quarter, Southern made his gustiest decision of the day, calling for an onside kick. Belton (5-4, 5-1)recovered and nine plays later, Adrian Henderson scored on a 4-yard sweep to put the Tigers up by eight.

What was involved in the decision for the kick?

"The same thing that goes into any of them," joked Southern, hinting that his own penchant for gambling was nothing but shear madness.

"More than anything we needed a possession. That is why I went for two early in the ball game. I wanted to get up a possession or get them 15-14. I knew we weren't going to stop them cold."

Bryan (5-4, 4-2) did a little gambling of its own when it converted a fourth-and-2 at the 17 in the first quarter.

Instead of settling for a field goal, Chris Watson finished off the 10-play, 61-yard drive with a 6-yard dart up the middle. Before that, the Vikings methodically moved the ball down the field on their opening possession, chewing nearly six minutes off the clock on a 11-play, 74-yard drive.

It ended on a 1-yard plunge by Nate Jones.

Meanwhile Belton's offense was sputtering.

It was not until 1:37 left in the half that the Tigers, who are averaging 37.5 points per game, even scored. After a botched Bryan punt, David Ash, who finished 16-of-25 passing for 257 yards, scrambled for a 21-yard run to get the Tigers inside the 10 and then Kenny Shuler bulled his way into the end zone in from the 1.

The next minute and a half got a little crazy.

Bryan passed the ball for the first time and a pair of penalties pushed the Vikings into Tiger territory. With 19 seconds left in the half, Jones scored his second touchdown, this one from 4 yards out.

But that was not the last of it.

With time ticking down, Ash completed a 24-yard pass down the sideline to Levi Jordan. Then he hit Jordan again over the middle at the 30.

Jordan then lateraled to Adrian Henderson for the ol' hook and ladder play and Henderson took the ball around the corner and down the sideline for the score as time expired in the half.

"That is the first time it has ever been successful for me – even in practice," Jordan said. "It has been a mess every time.

"The situation worked out perfectly."

The call gave Belton all the momentum in the third quarter as the Tigers scored at will. Tyler Pate hit a 31-yard field goal, Shuler scored on a 1-yard run and then Henderson scored on the sweep for the 29-21 lead.

Bryan, however, drove the length of the field in six minutes, score and had a chance to tie the game with a two-point conversion.

They did not make it. Stephen Honeywood cut off Jones on the outside and brought him down.

"All I know is they had me on a slant and I came through and the guy was there," Honeywood said. "What they do is roll their quarterback to take the first guy. So, I just tried to slant off him … and I just went through him and I knew the guy was going to try to go outside.
"I just grabbed him and tried to pull him down as hard as I could."

Shuler broke off a 44-yard run up the gut, managed to stay in bounds and allowed Belton a chance to seal the game.

Ash then put the game away when on that third and 10, fired a strike down the middle of the field to a barely open Jordan for the game-sealing score and left Southern smiling once again.