By Melissa Winn
The Community News
On the eve of Halloween, 66 may not exactly be the number you want to be associated with but Aledo’s Demarco Roberts may not mind so much.
Roberts accounted for 166 yards - 66 on one drive alone - and three touchdowns in a 47-26 win over Arlington Seguin at Bearcat Stadium Friday night.
The Bearcats improve to 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in District 5-5A play.
“When you’re playing running back, you don’t always score on first carry,” Roberts said of the drive where he had runs of 30, 32 and a 4-yard touchdown run. “I had a good week in practice and I felt good being out there.”
Roberts had been suffering from turf toe but that didn’t stop him, or his teammates, from exploiting the Cougars defense most of the night.
It didn’t take Aledo long to get on the scoreboard and capitalize on a mistake by Seguin. On its first play from scrimmage, Seguin’s Xavier Gordon fumbled the ball, giving the Bearcats the ball on Seguin’s 20.
Three plays later, Clay Murador kicked a 32-yard field goal to give Aledo a 3-0 advantage.
The defense would step up and force a three and out that would give the Bearcats a short field, taking over on the Seguin 42.
Sophomore quarterback Brant Hayden would extend the lead to 10-0 after he connected with Brian Fleming for an 11-yard touchdown with 5:12 left in the first.
The Cougars would cut the lead to four when running back Jalen March scored from three yards out. An unsuccessful 2-point attempt where Seguin looked to try to catch Aledo’s defense off-guard left it 10-6.
Trying to capitalize on the momentum, the Cougars pooch kicked the ball on the kickoff but all it did was give Aledo another short field to work with as they took over on their own 45.
Picking up where he left off last week, Ryan Williams immediately took the ball 20 yards and four plays later, wide receiver Jo Jo Earle made a 15-yard grab as he was falling out of bounds to get Aledo eight yards from the end zone.
Williams would cap the drive with a 3-yard rushing TD to give Aledo a 16-6 lead.
Aledo special teams pinned the Cougars inside its 1-yard line two possessions later and ultimately forced a punt on the drive to take over on the opponent’s 36.
Hayden would throw a 35-yarder to tight end Jason Llewellyn on the next play and then Roberts made it in the end zone from 1-yard out. Aledo was then up 23-6.
Penalties cost the Bearcats on the next drive when a pass interference call gave the Cougars the ball on Aledo’s 2-yard line. Three plays later, Seguin scored but another two-point attempt failed and the score was 23-12 with a minute and a half to go in the second.
Roberts would punch it in on a 32-yard run where he spun around, and off, tacklers to score and give Aledo a 30-12 at halftime.
Getting the kickoff in the second half, Roberts picked up where he left off and got his third touchdown of the night from four yards out to make it 37-12 early in the third. Another touchdown pass by Hayden to Brian Fleming from 31 yards out put Aledo up 44-12 midway through the third.
The Bearcats' final score of the game came in the third on a 42-yard field goal, making it 47-12.
Head coach Tim Buchanan said the lead allowed him to put some other players in the game and get some experience.
“We had a lull in the first half but the kids listened to us at halftime and did what we asked them to do,” he said. “Offensively, I know our kids woke up and the defense did too. We let a lot of kids play who don’t normally get the chance to.”
Aledo will likely play Mansfield Timberview next Thursday in the first zone playoff. Details have yet to be finalized.
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