11-14-25 Lake Belton

For those whose flights were canceled this weekend, you now have the chance to take an Uber to Highlander Stadium Friday and catch the bi-district playoff game between the Highland Park Scots and the Lake Belton Broncos. Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m.

   The Scots won the district 7-5A championship last Friday when they upended a talented Midlothian team, 42-28. This 2025 version of the Scots became another link in the chain by winning the program’s 60th district championship, a feat no other high school team in the state has accomplished. That’s a pretty strong chain.

   Highland Park comes into the playoffs riding a nine-game winning streak. The Scots are area ranked and state ranked, as they have been all season. Of course, records, rankings and standings mean nothing in the playoffs. HP head coach Randy Allen and his coaching staff are very good at focussing their players on the present and not the past, no matter how glittery their regulation season has been. The young men in the blue and gold already know that the playoffs are actually a new season. Ask one of the Scots what their record is and he’ll probably tell you that it’s 0-0.

   Last week Lake Belton beat Chaparral, 53-20, and the week before that the Broncos lost to Georgetown 50-40. The win against Chaparral gave the Broncos the fourth playoff spot from district 8-5A. In many playoff games the top seeded team is stronger than the fourth seeded team. But in this case, the Broncos are talented and score a lot of points. Just ask Georgetown. They won the 8-5A district title but they gave up 40 points to the Broncos and would rather not see them again during the playoffs.

   The good news for Lake Belton is that the team has several D-1 skill players. The bad news for Lake Belton is that some of them are injured and will not play this Friday. Which ones? We’ll see.

   The Broncos have been rotating junior Reese Rosenbaum and sophomore Jessiah James at quarterback after senior Maverik Maddux went down with an injury. One of their top receivers, Christian Onchweri, is also one of the team’s best defensive backs. Inside linebacker Gavin Owens plugs up the middle while defensive tackle Evan Lazott is all over the line of scrimmage.

   The Scots have one of the most potent offenses in the state. Led by junior quarterback Buck Randall’s 3,160 passing yards and 38 TD passes, the Scots continue to have an army of strong receivers, led by Cannon Bozman and his 837 yards receiving with 13 touchdowns. And running back Matthew White has scampered for 495 yards and 10 touchdowns while catching 35 passes for 605 yards and eight more TDs. This guy can smell the end zone from 35 yards out.

   This past week inside linebacker Beau Jones was named The Dallas Morning News Defensive Player of the Week for North Texas. He had 14 total tackles, two tackles for loss, three QB pressures and a forced fumble.

   Coach Allen was pleased with how the Scots defense came through when needed against Midlothian in the district championship game last Friday. The kick cover team players deserved a bow for their performance.

   How good is Midlothian? Coach Allen said that the Scots could possibly face them in the fourth round of the playoffs. In the meantime the Scots will be focussed on one playoff game at a time and we’ll see who is still standing when the fourth round comes around.

   That will be the first weekend in December, by the way.