BY NOLAN RUTH
X – @RealNolanRuth
MANSFIELD— The Aledo Bearcats extended their winning streak to 11 games on Friday night by eliminating the Abilene Eagles for the second time in as many seasons. Despite a less than stellar start, the Bearcats reeled off 56 unanswered points to send the Eagles home with a final score of 59-14.
“We knew coming into the game knowing that they had the playmakers to make plays and score points,” head coach Robby Jones commented after the win. “So it was nice to see our defense go out there and hold them to two touchdowns.”
The Bearcats got the ball to start the game, but quickly gave the ball over to Abilene on a fumble that set the Eagles up at the 25 yard line. Four plays later, Tristan Beal dropped back and tossed one up to John Miles Wagstaff from 12 yards out to give Abilene an early 7-0 lead.
Aledo responded with a quick drive into Eagle territory before running back Raycine Guillory broke free for a 36 yard touchdown run to tie the game. The Bearcat defense then kicked into gear and forced a punt. On the very next play, Guillory did it again from 82 yards out to put Aledo in front for good.
The Eagles picked up a couple of quick first downs on the ensuing drive before Adrian Fuller jumped in front of a pass and picked it off, racing 52 yards back to the house to make it 21-7. After forcing another punt, the Bearcats got another one-play drive when Gavin Beard threw a screen pass to Kaydon Finley who delivered a nasty stiff-arm to a defender and went 92 yards to paydirt.
Beard had a stellar day under center, completing 12 of 17 passes for 250 yards and four touchdowns, with Finley accounting for 5 of those completions for 169 yards and three touchdowns.
The score at the end of the first quarter was 28-7 in favor of Aledo.
Lamel Swanson came up with a Bearcat interception on the ensuing drive to set up a touchdown pass from Beard to Blake Burdine. Fuller then came up with his second interception of the game to set up yet another touchdown connection from Beard to Finley to make the halftime score 42-7.
The second half began with more of the same as Aledo forced another punt, allowing Beard to connect with Finley for a third time from 49 yards out for the touchdown. The Bearcats started subbing in players to get experience at that point.
After another defensive stop, Kaden Winkfield found himself on the score sheet with a four yard touchdown run as he drug three defenders into the endzone, making it 56-7. Abilene finally got back on the scoreboard after a long drive that capped off with a 13 yard touchdown pass from Beal to Ryland Bradford, making the score 56-14.
Aledo added a 23 yard field goal from Peyton Shaffer with just over a minute to go, ultimately bringing the final score to 59-14.
Abilene’s season once again comes to an end at the hands of the Bearcats with an overall record of 8-4. Aledo advances to the regional semifinal for the twelfth year in a row with a record of 11-1. They will face Amarillo Tascosa at 1 p.m. Friday, November 29 at Tiger Stadium in Snyder.
