Photo: Brian McLean
BY BRIAN GOSSET
The Bearcats have a UIL record 12 state football titles – 11 since 2009. During that stretch, Aledo hasn’t reached the state semifinals just three times (2012, 2021, 2024).
Last season’s playoff exit came on the hands of Denton Ryan 31-21.
Earlier in the 2024 season, Aledo beat Ryan 42-27 in district play.
Meeting for the fourth time in the past two years, Aledo got its playoff revenge and in a huge way, routing the Raiders 43-17 on Friday during the Class 5A D1 Region 1 Championship.
The #1 Bearcats (14-0) out gained the Raiders (12-2) by 200 yards including over 250 yards on the ground. Aledo rushed for 279 on 42 carries while holding Ryan to 18 yards on 30 carries.
Aledo scored touchdowns on all five drives in the first half and scored on its first seven possessions overall. QB Lincoln Tubbs’ 9-yard TD run gave Aledo a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Haylen Keese hit a 36-yard field goal on Ryan’s first drive to cut it to 7-3 but then the Bearcats scored the next 29 points.
Aledo led 33-3 at halftime.
Tubbs added TD runs of 30, 10 and 2 yards, and Kaden Winkfield rushed in a score from the 1. Peyton Shaffer hit a 30-yard field goal to make it 36-3 with 3:05 left in the third quarter. Tubbs’ 2-yard run closed out the first half – with five seconds on the clock.
Notre Dame signee Kaydon Finley caught a 40-yard TD from Tubbs in the fourth quarter. Winkfield led all players with 136 yards while Tubbs accounted for 253 yards (147 passing). Finley caught four passes for 113 yards.
Ryan QB Quin Henigan was 15 of 28 for 207 yards and two touchdowns.
Aledo rallied to beat Ryan 15-14 on Oct. 3 that extended its national district winning streak that started in 2007. The Bearcats will face Frisco Lone Star in the 5A D1 state semifinals at 7 pm Friday from Mansfield’s Newsom Stadium.
Lone Star beat Highland Park on Friday.
Aledo won titles in 1998, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023.
