Lake Belton beat Copperas Cove 52-37 on Thursday night at Bulldawg Stadium in Copperas Cove in a District 12-6A finale. The game started after a delay of just over two hours while officials arrived.
With the win, Lake Belton (6-4, 3-3) and Copperas Cove (5-5, 3-3) advanced to the playoffs. Temple was eliminated from postseason contention. Lake Belton will visit North Crowley, the top Division II seed from 11-6A, in next week's bi-district round.
Lake Belton quarterback Jessiah James was 17-of-23 for 249 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Junior running back Tally Beard had 105 yards and four scores on 25 carries.