Bearcats Defeat Seguin

By Nolan Ruth
The Community News

The Aledo Bearcats moved one step closer to another perfect regular season when they traveled to east Arlington to take on the Cougars from Juan Seguin High School. The Bearcats took control of the game early and never looked back, cruising to a 55-21 victory and solidifying a district championship.

“Well the biggest thing is that when you’re a district champion, you get your first playoff game at home,” head coach Tim Buchanan said behind a chuckle. “It used to not mean anything. So now the big benefit is that they have to come play at our place.”

Seguin tried to eat up the clock early and prevent Aledo from getting the ball. But the Bearcat defense held on the first drive and took possession almost halfway through the first quarter. The offense quickly drove down the field, setting up a 12-yard touchdown pass from Brayden-Fowler Nicolosi to a wide open Jalen Pope in the back of the end zone. Then the floodgates opened.

While the defense continued to dominate and do its job, Ryan Williams started his big day with a pair of touchdown runs from six and two yards respectively, making the score 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Once the second quarter started, Sammy Steffe began his big day. He took his first carry 59 yards to paydirt, extending the Aledo lead to 28-0. This time, Seguin had an answer when Naszae Otieno broke free and went 56 yards himself. Penalties stalled the Bearcats for the rest of the half, but Clay Murador did add a 33-yard field goal to make it a 31-7 score at the break.

Both running backs continued the domination into the second half. Steffe got the first score on a 25-yard scoring run. Then an interception by Taylon Kessler set up a drive that was capped off by a 4-yard score by Williams. Aledo led 45-7 going into the final frame of play.

The Cougars battled back in the fourth quarter, scoring twice. However, Steffe was not finished yet, and he took a kickoff 76 yards to the house to keep the game in Bearcat control. Jace Sims added the final tally late with a 30-yard field goal, bringing the final score to 55-21.

“We lost a player defensively that hurt,” Buchanan said about his team’s performance. “It really hurt us in the inside gaps but we’re going to get better. They will all get better at defending the run and I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

The Bearcats improve to 9-0(6-0) on the year and will face the Cleburne Yellowjackets(4-5) for senior night at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5 at Bearcat Stadium to hopefully polish off a perfect regular season.