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Bearcats shut out Arlington Heights to end pre-district play

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By NolanRuth
The Community News

Coming into their final non-district matchup against the Arlington Heights Yellowjackets on Friday, Sept. 10, the Aledo Bearcats had already collected two impressive wins to start their title defense with a 2-0 record. That record improved by the end of the game as Aledo shut out Arlington Heights 64-0 in front of a hometown crowd at Bearcat Stadium.

“Other than a couple turnovers that we didn’t want to see, it was pretty much a flawless night,” head coach Tim Buchanan said after the game. “A bunch of kids got to play and make plays that we don’t usually see. That’s always good to see.”

The game got off to a great start for the Bearcats as they forced the Yellowjackets to punt on the first drive, setting up a 44-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi (14-17, 293 yards, 4 TDs passing) to Hauss Hejny (4 catches, 144 yards, 1 TD receiving, 1-1, 12 yards, 1 TD passing).

Linebacker Skyler Frank pressures the Arlington Heights quarterback. Photo by Kristin Morales.

After getting another stop, running back Ryan Williams (7 carries, 53 yards, 2 TDs) found his way in from four yards out to make it a 14-0 score. Nicolosi added another score on the next drive to tight end Jason Llewellyn (2 catches, 25 yards, 1 TD) to bring the score to 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, it was the Bearcat defense that got in the end zone as senior cornerback Sammy Steffe intercepted a pass and raced 74 yards to the house.

On the next Aledo drive, Williams got his second touchdown of the night from four yards out. The Bearcats weren’t done yet, though. As time expired in the first half, Nicolosi found BJ Fleming (4 catches, 82 yards, 2 TDs) on the short crossing pattern, and Fleming weaved his way through defenders and found himself in the end zone to bring the halftime score to 42-0.

Wide Receiver Brian Fleming is upended at the end of a play. Photo by Kristin Morales,

The starters stayed in the game for the third quarter, and Nicolosi added one more tally to his statline, passing to Fleming in the end zone. Aledo led 49-0 after three quarters.

The next scoring play came on the second play of the fourth quarter, as a bad snap on an Arlington Heights punt went out the back of the end zone for a safety. When the Bearcats got the ball back, Hejny capped off a career day by passing to Zach Reynolds in the corner of the end zone, and Reynolds was able to haul it in for the score.

“I left Aledo in third grade,” Hejny talked about how special his performance was for him. “To come back and play with all my best friends I made at a very young age, it’s just been great to come back and compete alongside them. I’ve always wanted to be an Aledo Bearcat and now I'm actually an Aledo Bearcat. It’s just a dream come true”

On the final Bearcat drive, senior running back Connor Smith finished the scoring with a 4-yard plunge to pay dirt, bringing the final tally to 64-0.

The Bearcats improve to 3-0 and will start district play next week against the Burleson Elks (2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17 at Burleson ISD Stadium.

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