Photo by Brian McLean
By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolanRuth
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CROWLEY— The Aledo Bearcats are no stranger to deep playoff runs. Since 2009, Aledo has won 11 of the school’s 12 state championships in football. Playing on Black Friday is a tradition for the East Parker County town.
Their opponent, on the other hand, was not so used to practicing on Thanksgiving. The Arlington Heights Yellow Jackets, out of Fort Worth ISD, had not seen the third round of the playoffs since 1973, when they played against a young running back by the name of Earl Campbell.
While the two have history against each other, they had not met in the playoffs since 2006 when Aledo defeated Heights 55-20 at historic Farrington Field; the only playoff meeting between the two until Friday afternoon when they faced off at Crowley ISD Multi-Purpose Stadium.
Despite getting off to a bit of a slower start than they would have liked, the Bearcats cruised to a 55-0 victory with a stellar defensive performance. Aledo will now face the winner of Denton Ryan and Richland to be played Friday night.
Aledo’s defense held Heights to just 65 yards of total offense with only three yards in the second half.
“It’s been that way all year,” head coach Robby Jones said in his postgame remarks. “That’s what we expect out of those guys. We expect those guys to go out there and get after it, like they did all day today. It was a statement…”
The offense also went off, gaining 502 yards overall. However, Jones still knows there were opportunities missed offensively that they have to work on.
“Kicking field goals is not what we like to do,” Jones mentioned. “We like to score touchdowns. We’re pleased with it but we still see things we need to work on. Because we’re going to need to score touchdowns to beat the guys we’ve got next week.”
The Jackets picked up a couple of quick first downs to open the game before the Bearcat defense kicked it into high gear. Aledo then drove into Heights territory before stalling, leading to a 39-yard field goal by Peyton Shaffer.
On the next play from scrimmage, defensive end Carson Dempsey forced a fumble on a sack and Decker Sanders was able to fall on it for Aledo. Two plays later, Kaden Winkfield found paydirt on a two yard run to make the lead 10-0 after one quarter.
Already having the ball to begin the second quarter, Brady “Bull” Powell then began his solid performance with a two-yard score for the Bearcats. Powell finished his day with 196 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns.
After getting the ball back, it was quarterback Lincoln Tubs who found the end zone while evading pressure and tucking it himself from 22 yards out.
Tubbs also had a good game completing 10 of 15 for 115 yards through the air, and rushing for 25 total yards on three carries and a score.
The defense then forced a three-and-out, setting up a six-yard touchdown run by Winkfield to make the lead 31-0 going into halftime.
To open the second half, Powell broke free for a 57-yard run to put the ball at the Jacket 18 yard line. Winkfield finished it off on the next play, just 30 seconds into the third quarter.
After another three-and-out from the defense, Powell got another big run by breaking free and taking it 35 yards to paydirt, making the score 45-0.
“Every time I get the ball I’m just seeing the end zone,” Powell commented about his mentality carrying the ball. “Every yard counts. There’s no way I’m going to go down on the first hit. I’m going to get as much as I can.”
The next drive saw the offense stall inside the five yard line, but Shaffer made sure they still got points, hitting a 22-yard field goal to make it 48-0 after three quarters of play.
The Bearcats then put in their reserves for the fourth quarter, and Rudy Moya put the exclamation point on the game with a four-yard score to bring the final score to 55-0.
