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Bearcats repeat Peach Classic win

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Top Weatherford 47-7

By Nolan Ruth
The Community News

Another season of football officially got underway in Aledo on Friday, Aug. 27, as the Bearcats played host to cross-county rival Weatherford in the second annual Parker County Peach Classic. In 2020, Aledo defeated Weatherford 70-7 in Arlington and the Kangaroos came looking for vengeance this time around. They did not get it as the Bearcats rode a strong defensive performance to a 47-7 win.

“It felt good,” quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi said after the game. “This was my first time playing in front of a full stadium due to the crazy year last year. It’s just awesome to see this community and theirs show up the way they did, and we got the win. It was solid and we were super consistent, so I’m happy with it.”

The Kangaroos’ game plan of keeping the Aledo offense off the field appeared to be working in the first quarter. The only points in the first quarter came when Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi completed a pass to Jason Llewellyn who carried four defenders on his back into the end zone to give the Bearcats a 7-0 lead.

Weatherford held the ball for the rest of the first quarter and into the second quarter. On that same drive, quarterback CJ Thornton carried the ball in from one yard out to tie the game. From there, Bearcat running back Ryan Williams took over the rest of the first half, scoring on back-to-back drives from two and 18 yards respectively, giving Aledo a 19-7 halftime lead after a couple of failed conversion attempts.

Despite the lead, Weatherford’s game plan wore on the defense, keeping them on the field for most of the first half.

“There was a lot of frustration going into the half,” defensive end Jack Tregellas admitted after the game. “We were doing our jobs, just not executing in the first half. That running back ran hard, fast and low. We were shooting ourselves in the foot. It was definitely a morale tester.”

The Bearcats got the ball to start the second half and went on a five-play, 55-yard drive capped off by Nicolosi’s pass to Jalen Pope in the end zone for a none-yard strike. Down to the final second of the third quarter, Williams added his third rushing score of the night to put Aledo up 33-7 going into the fourth quarter.

Senior running back Connor Smith came into the game for Williams in the fourth quarter and made some noise himself as he added the final two touchdowns on the ground to bring the final score to 47-7.

For the second straight year, the Bearcats start their season at 1-0, and will travel to Toyota Stadium in Frisco next Thursday to take on the Lone Star Rangers.

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