BY NOLAN RUTH
X – @RealNolanRuth
ALEDO— The Aledo Bearcats held their home opener on Friday night against the Lancaster Tigers for the first time ever. Both teams were coming off of losses in week one to Denton Guyer and North Crowley respectively. Fortunately for Aledo it was they who came away with their first win of the season, 37-27, behind a big defensive performance, and a strong run game with Ray Guillory.
Guillory finished the game with 15 carries for 172 yards and three touchdowns.
“Ray looked like the old Ray,” head coach Robby Jones said after the game. “We’ve got to get him in a little bit better shape so he can finish some of his runs. We’ve got to get him up to that speed where he’s running away from people.”
The Bearcats forced a quick three-and-out to start the game and immediately put the run game to work. Despite the big game from Guillory, it was Kaden Winkfield who scored the first points of the game with a 13-yard touchdown run to give Aledo a quick 7-0 lead.
After another three-and-out, the Bearcats looked as if they were going to score again, but they failed on fourth down as backup quarterback Nash McElree was unable to connect with his receiver.
The Tigers took advantage, driving all the way down the field, scoring on a fade from Carter Jones to Emmanuel Choice. Those two proved to be a big duo for Lancaster in the game. Jones and Choice connected six times for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
However, a penalty on the extra point pushed the attempt back 15 yards, and the attempt fell short to leave the score at 7-6 to end the first quarter.
The first drive of the second quarter saw Aledo have to settle for three points after a pair of penalties stopped them cold in the red zone. Cole Crawford was up to the task, nailing a 28-yard field goal to extend the Bearcat lead.
Another defensive stop setup Guillory to take over again and find the end zone for the first time from 15 yards away. The next points did not come from the offense, but the defense. Aledo’s next drive stalled and resulted in a punt that was downed at the one yard line. On the very next play Decker Sanders brought down Izayah Lee in the end zone for a safety. The Bearcats led 19-6 at the break.
Things got worse for the Tigers in the second half as their first drive resulted in a bad snap on fourth down that gave Aledo the ball at the 12 yard line. One play later Guillory found the end zone for the second time to give the Bearcats a 26-6 lead.
Then Lancaster started to come back. The next drive saw the Tiger offense go 65 yards on nine plays, capped off by a 13 yard scoring run by Lee. Then after forcing a three-and-out, Jones found a wide open Choice deep down field for a 79-yard touchdown connection to pull the score to 26-20.
Just before the end of the third quarter, Guillory came up with the play of the game when he broke a tackle in the backfield and found a seam. He broke through the defense and raced 56 yards to pay dirt. McElree then connected with Blake Burdine for the two-point conversion. This added pressure on Lancaster by making it a two-possession game at 34-20 heading into the final frame.
Aledo got the first points of the fourth quarter after the offense stalled just outside of the red zone. Crawford came on for his second field goal attempt and drilled it from 46 yards away.
A desperate Lancaster team scored again on a pass from Jones to Sir Christian Kirkwood, but could not get the ball back again. Aledo ran down the clock and walked away with the win 37-27.
After the game, head coach Robby Jones commented on how important it was to pressure such a fast team like Lancaster.
“That’s big so that you don’t have those fast receivers running down the field and getting open late. So it’s great to have the defensive line get that pressure on them, get to the quarterback and sack the quarterback as much as they did.”
Aledo (1-1) will open District 3-5A DI play next Friday on the road against Brewer (0-2) who fell to Lake Dallas this week. Lancaster (0-2) will get one more chance to get its first win next Friday when they host Hebron (1-1) who is coming off of a loss to Southlake Carroll.
