CEDAR PARK — Lake Belton went into Thursday night in a similar situation as last year. After dropping the season opener to College Station A&M Consolidated, the Broncos needed a response against familiar foe Round Rock McNeil.

Unlike last season, when Lake bounced back with an overtime win, it was the Mavericks who escaped with a 34-28 victory in a game that went down to the final drive at Gupton Stadium.

McNeil (1-1) leaned on quarterback Jadon Sultz, who completed 19 of 25 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns, while receiver Jarrell Gary hauled in seven receptions for 144 yards and added 10 runs for 140 yards and three scores.

With usual starting quarterback Maverik Maddux out with an injury, Lake Belton rotated between sophomore Jessiah James and junior Reese Rosenbaum. James tallied 151 yards and two TDs on 9-of-18 passing, and Rosenbaum went 3-of-3 for 15 yards.

Senior running back Arrington Alexander carried the load on the ground for the Broncos, rushing 12 times for 143 yards and a pair of scores.

Down 34-21 with just more than 7 minutes left, Lake (0-2) fought until the very end. The Broncos answered the call late with a seven play, 80-yard drive that was highlighted by a 48-yard pass from James to junior receiver Zion Harness to put Lake on the McNeil 17-yard line. After an incompletion and a run for no gain, James found Braxtan Cope in the end zone for a 17-yard score that cut the gap to 34-28.

The Broncos then forced the Mavericks into 4th-and-1 at the McNeil 42 with 2 minutes left. The Mavericks picked up the first down and ran out the clock to escape with the win.

“I thought our kids fought for 48 minutes,” said Lake head coach Brian Cope, whose program suffered back-to-back losses in the same season for the first time in its short history. “I am so proud to coach this group of young men. Sometimes your closest teams face the most adversity early, and I think it will pay off down the road.

“Our kids played hard and left it all out there. Sometimes in those games, you come up short but I’m proud of the fight this team had until the end.”

Lake opened the game with a six-play, 75-yard drive that ended with an 18-yard touchdown run by Alexander to put the Broncos up 7-0.

McNeil answered when a Gary 31-yard run on third-and-1 highlighted a five-play drive that ended in an 18-yard pass from Sultz to Aden Taylor to pull even.

After forcing a Lake punt, the Mavericks ended the quarter by using all 3:52 on the clock and capping a nine-play, 89-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Sultz to Zach Christie to go up 14-7. Sultz was 6-for-6 for 80 yards on the drive.

Lake’s response on the opening drive of the second quarter was a quick one, with Alexander breaking several tackles on a 75-yard touchdown to knot the game again.

McNeil answered immediately after Gary returned the kickoff all the way to the Lake Belton 36. Four plays later, Gary ran 3 yards for his first score of the night to put the Mavericks back on top 21-14.

The Broncos tied it again before halftime when James hooked up with Cope for a 17-yard TD that sent the teams into the locker room deadlocked at 21-all.

McNeil moved ahead by two TDs when Gary scored twice from 3 yards out to give the Mavericks a 34-21 advantage and set up the final sequence.

ROUND ROCK MCNEIL 34,
LAKE BELTON 28
Lake Belton;7;14;0;7;—;28

McNeil;14;7;7;6;—;34

LB — Arrington Alexander 18 run (Aiden Lassich kick)

McN — Aden Taylor 18 pass from Jadon Sultz (Bryce Wilson kick)

McN — Zach Christie 9 pass from Sultz (Wilson kick)

LB — Alexander 75 run (Lassich kick)

McN — Jarrell Gary 3 run (Wilson kick)

LB — Braxtan Cope 17 pass from Jessiah James (Lassich kick)

McN — Gary 3 run (Wilson kick)

McN — Gary 3 run (kick failed)

LB — Cope 17 pass from James (Lassich kick)

TEAM STATISTICS
;LB;McN

First downs;17;18

Rushes-yards;28-218;28-217

Passing yards;166;265


Comp.-Att.-Int.;12-21-0;19-25-0

Punts-average;4-35.5.0;0-00.0

Fumbles-lost;0-0;2-0

Penalties-yards;9-61;7-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Lake Belton: Alexander 12-143, Zyien Dupree 10-52, James 4-8, Davion Peters 2-15; McNeil: Zylen Hall 6-29, Gary 10-140, Aden Taylor 10-41, Sultz 1-4, Brian Perkins 1-3.

PASSING — Lake Belton: James 9-18-0-151, Reese Rosenbaum 3-3-0-15; McNeil: Sultz 19-25-0-265.

RECEIVING — Lake Belton: Cope 3-44, Peters 2-54, Zion Harness 4-69, Christian Onchweri 2-1, Dupree 1-(-2); McNeil: Gary 7-144, Taylor 3-35, Christie 5-64, Perkins 3-25, Hall 1- (-3)

dtaylor@tdtnews.com