BELTON — In a matchup of two of the best teams in District 8-5A-I, the Lake Belton Broncos were the better squad Friday night in a 28-21 victory over the Cedar Park Timberwolves at Tiger Field.

Following an offensive barrage in the first half, both defenses stiffened after the break and Lake’s lone second-half score proved to be the difference.

On a night when he split snaps with junior Maverick Maddux, Broncos quarterback Eli Mascarenas delivered the haymaker early in the fourth quarter when the senior found a gap and bolted through for a 6-yard touchdown run to give Lake (6-2, 4-1) a 28-21 lead.

The Timberwolves (5-3, 4-1) looked poised to answer as they marched all the way to the Lake 2-yard line and appeared to score on a scramble by quarterback David Cooper, but a holding penalty pushed them back to the 12.

On fourth-and-goal from the 4, Cooper’s toss fell to the ground with 5:50 remaining and the Broncos didn’t give back the ball.

Lake called on junior Davion Peters, who finished with 176 yards receiving and 39 rushing, to come up big in the closing minutes.

“It’s just trusting the coaches and (them) trusting me,” Peters said of what led to the performance. “We knew the game plan was going to work. We’ve got to execute it.”

On third-and-11 with the ball on their 3, the Broncos showed that trust in Peters and the receiver repaid it with a 28-yard reception from Maddux that extended the drive. Peters caught a 6-yard toss on the following play and rushed for 2 yards to set up a decisive fourth-and-1 on the Lake 40.

Mascarenas once again delivered with his legs, pushing the pile and gaining the final yard needed to seal the Broncos’ victory that gives them control of their destiny in the district title race.

“I’m going to say this, so far, biggest win in school history,” Broncos head coach Brian Cope said of the triumph.

Both offenses had no trouble finding the end zone early as six of the first seven drives reached pay dirt. The Broncos came up with a stop on Cedar Park’s opening drive and quickly worked their way down the field.

Mascarenas took the majority of the snaps on Lake’s first drive, rushing five times and passing five, as the Broncos put together a 90-yard march. Mascarenas capped the drive by finding Zion Harness behind the Timberwolves secondary to give Lake the first score of the night and a 7-0 advantage.

The Timberwolves responded by going 70 yards, finished by David Cooper finding Zane Wallace for an 18-yard score. Wallace caught a short screen pass and evaded tacklers as he weaved into the end zone to even the score at 7.

Lake’s offense didn’t miss a beat on the following drive as the balanced attack continued to find success. This time it was Maddux who finished off the drive with a 15-yard toss to Davion Peters down the middle of the field, giving Lake a 14-7 edge.

Lake’s lead held up for three plays. Cooper unleashed a deep throw to Jamal Porter, who caught the ball on the hashes near the 50-yard line and left his defenders in the dust for an 80-yard score, leveling the tally at 14.

It looked like Harness would renew the Broncos’ lead on the following kickoff when he found a hole but couldn’t evade the final defender. The 56-yard return set up the Broncos on the Timberwolves 34, and the Broncos capitalized with a four-play drive. Peters scored on a 7-yard run to give Lake a 21-14 lead.

The Timberwolves rushed nine times on their following drive as Cooper and Cameron Graham combined for 37 yards on a 70-yard drive, and Trae Hill rumbled for a 3-yard score to make it 21-all.

The Broncos worked their way into field goal range and gave Tommy Stephens a shot at a 43-yard field goal on fourth down of their final drive of the first half, but the kick narrowly went wide and left the teams tied at 21 going into the break.

The Broncos will face the Georgetown Eagles on the road next week, hoping to keep their run at a district title alive.

LAKE BELTON 28, CEDAR PARK 21

Cedar Park 7 14 0 0 — 21

Lake Belton 7 14 0 7 — 28

LB — Zion Harness 28 pass from Eli Mascarenas (Stephens kick)

CP — Noah Wallace 18 pass from David Cooper (Alejandro Hernandez kick)

LB — Davion Peters 15 pass from Maverik Maddux (Stephens kick)

CP — Jamal Porter 80 pass from Cooper (Hernandez kick)

LB — Peters 7 run (Stephen kick)

CP — Trae Hill 3 run (Hernandez kick)

LB — Mascarenas 6 run (Stephens kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

CP LB

First downs 14 23

Rushes-yards 32-151 35-137

Passing yards 161 250

Comp.-Att.-Int. 10-18-0 15-20-1

Punts-average 2-37.0 1-26.0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-40 7-65

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Cedar Park: Cooper 8-63, Hill 12-57, Cameron Graham 11-35, team 1-(-4); Lake Belton: Tekoa Martin 20-84, Peters 7-39, Harness 2-16, Mascarenas 4-14, team 2-(-16).

PASSING — Cedar Park: Cooper 10-18-0-161; Lake Belton: Maddux 7-10-0-145, Mascarenas 8-10-0-105.

RECEIVING — Cedar Park: Porter 4-108, Jonah Johnson 5-35, Wallace 1-18; Lake Belton: Peters 12-176, Zach Dodd 1-32, Harness 1-28, Christian Onchweri 1-14.

TDT - Will Hopkins