October 5, 2007 and October 12, 2007 will forever be remembered in Aledo HS football history.
The first date was the last time the Aledo football team lost a game in district play – a 35-28 defeat on the road against Everman. The second date was a 38-14 road win against Alvarado – the start of a streak that still stands today.
But that streak was in jeopardy on Friday night and over the course of the past 15+ years, there might be only a handful of times when it was on the verge of breaking.
Ryan (5-2, 4-2 in 3-5A D1) led 19-17 near the 1:45 mark of the fourth quarter.
QB Braeden Mussett found Jose Melendez for a 32-yard touchdown to give the Raiders a two-point lead with 7:11 left in the game. However, the extra point was blocked.
The Raiders were in prime position.
After taking the lead, the defense forced a takeaway on the ensuing Aledo drive. The pressure got to QB Hauss Hejny. He was hit while attempting the pass and a floater made its way into the hands of Ryan’s Mun’terrius Ellis to give the Raiders the ball with the 19-17 lead and 5:39 left to play.
But Ryan’s offense couldn’t move the ball and went three and out followed by a punt. Aledo got the ball at its own 32 still down two and 3:23 left to play. Ryan nearly got another pick from Trae Williams, but it resulted in just a mere incomplete pass.
Hejny, a 4-star TCU commit, converted a third and 9 to the Aledo 44 for a first down.
Then on a third and 11 from the Aledo 43, Hejny kept it on a designed QB keeper and scored on a 57-yard TD run to put the Cats up 23-19 with 1:35 left in the game. Then he hit Trace Clarkson on a successful two-point conversion to make it 25-19.
Ryan would start the next drive at its own 27, but on fourth and 7, a completion came up short to give Aledo the ball back with 68 seconds left. Hejny then picked up a first down and stayed in bounds to help run the clock out.
Both teams were led by the rushing game.
Mussett and Hejny combined to throw four interceptions, but Mussett rushed 19 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns while Hejny finished with 192 yards and the game winning score. Aledo back Ray Guillory added 108 yards on 19 carries. LSU commit Davhon Keys, whose primary position is linebacker, registered 26 yards rushing and two scores.
Aledo led 17-6 at halftime.
The Bearcats, #1 in the 5A D1 state rankings, are now 9-0 overall and 7-0 in district. They get their bye in Week 10 and finish the regular season against Brewer in Week 11.
The win over Ryan extended their national record to 118 straight district wins. It also gave them a district title for the 16th straight season which dates back to 2008. They own a 1.5 game lead on Justin Northwest for first place in 3-5A D1. Northwest can still clinch a piece of the district title with two wins and an Aledo loss to Brewer, but Aledo would still be a #1 playoff seed due to its head to head tiebreaker with the Texans.
Friday’s game was also the 100th at the current Bearcat/Tim Buchanan Stadium.
Aledo owns a 94-6 record in that span.
