Photo: Luka Fraza
BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1
=======================
MANSFIELD – Frisco Lone Star’s Davian Groce is one of the best football players in the country. He is a 4-star prospect that recently signed to the University of Florida and also ranked in the Top 10 of all wide receivers in the country among the 2026 class according to 247Sports.
He absolutely showed why on Friday night in arguably one of the greatest playoff performances in Texas high school football history.
Facing a 52-35 deficit with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Groce, sophomore QB Trey Wright and the Rangers made a tremendous comeback to stun Aledo 56-52 in their Class 5A D1 state semifinal game at Newsom Stadium – a game that featured the top two teams in the final 5A D1 state rankings by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.
Lone Star (15-0) advances to the title game for the second time in program history and first since 2015 to face defending champ Smithson Valley (14-1) at 7 pm Friday Dec. 19 at AT&T Stadium. SV beat Port Arthur Memorial in their semifinal on Friday night and took down Highland Park in last year’s final, 32-20.
Friday night was Lone Star’s third semifinal appearance (2015, 2019). The Rangers played for the 5A D2 title in 2015 – losing 22-6 against Cedar Park.
Aledo QB Lincoln Tubbs and Notre Dame bound Kaydon Finley connected for the third time to give the Bearcats a 17-point cushion in the fourth quarter. Finley caught a 10-yard pass and then ran away from several defenders while changing direction to give Aledo a 52-35 lead with eight minutes left.
Wright and Groce hooked up for the fourth time of the night that pulled the Rangers within 52-42 with 4:50 left. Then Lone Star drove again and got to the Aledo 19 at the two-minute timeout. Wright rushed in for a 19-yard touchdown that made it a 52-49 game with 1:49 on the clock.
Grove had over 300 yards receiving, but perhaps his biggest play was recovering the ensuing onside kick. Wright got off a big run with 1:33 left in the quarter and then added another rush inside the 5. Lone Star scored the go-ahead touchdown when Wright threw it to Zach Forbish for a 56-52 lead and 30 seconds.
Aledo (14-1) started the ensuing drive at their own 25 as Tubbs hit Finley for 13 yards to the 38. The Bearcats got to the 39, but completed a pass only to fumble with Lone Star recovering at the 9-second mark. The Rangers took one final knee to clinch the victory.
Both teams went over 600 yards on offense.
Wright, who had over 600 yards alone last week against Highland Park, passed for 360, ran for another 175 and accounted for eight total touchdowns. Groce made 15 catches while Finley finished with nine grabs for 255 yards. Tubbs accounted for over 450 yards and completed 12 of 13 passes – with his only incompletion resulting in a Lone Star interception.
Aledo came in with 11 titles and 12 championship appearances since 2009. The Bearcats, who have a UIL record 12 state championships, miss out on playing in the title game in back-to-back years for the first time since 2007-2008.
The Bearcats opened the game with a dominating opening drive – going 71 yards in less than two minutes. Tubbs picked up a big gain on the ground across the 50 and then hit Finley, who got near the red zone. Brady Powell then took a handoff and scored 23 yards away for an early 7-0 Aledo lead.
Their defense, which came in allowing under seven points in 14 games, made a stand with a three-and-out and punt. Aledo’s offense went right back to work as Finley took a quick out from Tubbs and picked up over 40 yards into Lone Star territory. Kaden Winkfield scored on a 3-yard TD run and Aledo was in control 14-0 and 7:11 left in the opening quarter.
Lone Star didn’t quit as the Rangers got a big play on the ensuing drive. Wright hit Groce down the sideline for a 41-yard TD that made it 14-7 just over two minutes later.
Aledo went back up 14 when Winkfield pushed his way across the goal line from the 1 on the next possession. Wright hit Groce on a quick out and the latter roared in from 68 yards to trim the lead to 21-14 with 1:34 left in the first quarter.
Santonio Martin picked off an Aledo pass, but the Bearcats forced a punt. After Lamel Swanson made a great punt return for Aledo, Lone Star’s D stopped the Bearcats on fourth-and-3 to retain possession.
Cooper Cyphers sacked Wright on back-to-back plays for Aledo, but Lone Star would convert on third-and-19 when Groce picked up over 30 yards on a screen. Wright connected with Forbish on a long fade and after an Aledo personal foul, the Rangers had first-and-goal from the 8. Wright and Groce connected for a third time in the first half to pull even with 4:51 in the period.
Tubbs would hit Finley on a long touchdown to give Aledo the lead 28-21. Wright extended a play and found Logan Brown across the 50 with under two minutes remaining. Wright then converted on a third-and-10 before the Rangers got first-and-goal.
But Lone Star came away with zero as the Rangers missed a 24-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining. Aledo led 28-21 at the intermission. The Rangers had an opportunity to take a lead with a touchdown to end the first half and touchdown to start the second half. However, with the missed field goal, Lone Star was then forced to punt on the opening drive of the third quarter.
That would turn into a 14-point deficit as Aledo scored on a 54-yard touchdown catch and run from Finley. The Bearcats had their largest lead shortly after when Tubbs scored from 51 yards to make it 42-21 with 8:47 left in the period.
Aledo got a field goal just before the end of the third while Wright scored two rushing touchdowns – the second bringing it to 45-35 with 10:37 to play in the fourth.
