By Nolan Ruth
The Community News
The count has been happening for almost 14 years exactly. The year was 2007 — the last time the Aledo Bearcats lost a district game. That loss came at the hands of the Everman Bulldogs, the same opponent that came into Bearcat Stadium on Friday, Sept. 24, to try and end the impressive streak. Since that game a decade and a half ago, the Bearcats have now won 98 consecutive district games after trouncing Everman 51-7.
Aledo got off to a quick start. On the first play from scrimmage, Hauss Hejny (2-4, 99 yards, 1 TD passing, 6 carries, 56 yards rushing, 1 reception, 36 yards, 1 TD receiving) hit Jalen Pope (1 reception, 66 yards, 1 TD) on the quick slant, and Pope sprinted 66 yards for the touchdown. After punting on the second drive, running back Ryan Williams (10 carries, 57 yards, 1 TD) took over on the third, carrying the offense down to the one yard line before punching it in to make it 14-0.
With Brant Hayden (5-12, 51 yards, 1 TD passing) coming in at quarterback, Hejny lined up as the wideout and made a spectacular catch and stayed up long enough to get to the end zone. The Bulldogs finally got a drive together towards the end of the first quarter and scored to make it 21-7 after one frame.
The second quarter, in contrast to the first, was very defensive. Neither team was able to find the end zone. Two Aledo turnovers and multiple punts resulted in the score remaining 21-7 going into the locker room.
“We gave the ball to them twice,” head coach Tim Buchanan said about the rather tight first half. “They were able to turn one of those into points, and just kept the ball out of our offense’s hands.”
The Bearcats came out in the third quarter ready to send a message, and that is exactly what they did. Davhon Keys (1 carry, 3 yards, 1 TD, 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) made the first big statement by getting an interception on the second play of the half. He later capped off the ensuing drive with a three yard scoring run.
Two plays into Everman’s next drive, Kyle “Boogie” Thompson recovered a fumble, setting up another drive that was capped off by a Sammy Steffe (8 carries, 77 yards, 2 TDs) six yard scoring run to make it 35-7. After Texas-commit BJ Allen came up with a nice interception, Steffe did it again from 17 yards out to widen the gap even further.
As if things could not get any worse for Everman, a high snap on a punt went out the back of the end zone for a safety, making the Aledo lead 44-7 at the end of the third quarter.
Connor Smith put a bow on the game in the fourth quarter with a two-yard touchdown, bringing the final tally to 51-7 when all was said and done.
“When we were in the locker room at halftime,” Allen said about the adjustments made. “Coach McCone said that if we have our foot on their necks, don’t let up. All gas, no brakes.”
“Our defense created turnovers and gave us the ball in really good field position,” Buchanan said, crediting his defense. “We end up turning those into points. It gave us a lot of momentum on offense when our defense gave us the ball.”
The Bearcats improve to 5-0 (2-0) on the season and go into their bye week on top of the district standings. Their next game will be 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8, at Owl Stadium in Joshua when the Bearcats will face the hometown Owls(3-2).
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