Please enjoy this game slide show from our friend Scott Coleman, who was at the game.
On a day when their top wide receiver was setting one state championship game record and tying another, the Aledo Bearcats extended a record they already owned with their 11th state football championship.
This time it was College Station who was the victim as Aledo controlled the game from start to finish en route to a 52-14 victory in the Class 5A Division I final Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Pope caught eight passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns. He set a 5A record for most yardage in a game and tied the mark for most TD receptions with scores of 7, 51 and 76 yards.
The previous yardage record of 220 was shared by Jalen Preston of Manvel and Cade Saustad of Dallas Highland Park in a game against each other in 2017. Pope joins six other players with a trio of TD catches in the title game.
“Jalen is another one of those kids who’s been a program guy,” Aledo head coach Tim Buchanan said. “He’s continued to grow - literally - bigger, stronger, faster every year.”
College Station coach Stoney Pryor, who is in his first season as Cougars head coach, said of his team’s inability to cover Pope, “He’s really good, there’s one difficulty. Their staff did a really good job of scheming against us. Aledo has a lot of weapons that make them the danger they are.”
Buchanan joined elite company as only the fifth high school coach in Texas with eight or more state championships, as Saturday was his eighth leading the Bearcats. Steve Wood won titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018 when Buchanan stepped away to be solely the athletic director.
Buchanan is tied with G.A. Moore for fourth. They are one behind Gordon Wood, Jerry Burkhart and Scott Surratt, who won his ninth Friday by leading Carthage to the 4A Division II crown with a 42-0 win over Wimberley.
At the post-game press conference Buchanan made a reference to a conversation he had with Dallas South Oak Cliff head Coach Clifton Todd. Todd jokingly said to call him “Two-time Todd” after the Bears repeated as 5A Division II state champions with a 34-24 win over Port Neches Groves Friday.
Like Buchanan, Todd’s Bears overcame a slow start (0-3) to go undefeated the rest of the season for the title.
As a closing line to his press conference, Buchanan said with a smile to call him “Eight-time Timmy!”
Five minutes into the game the only thing College Station fans had to look forward to was the band at halftime. As Professor Harold Hill might say, it was domination with a capital D and that rhymes with T and that stands for another title.
This game was about as close as Padre Island and Bismarck, North Dakota as Aledo was never really threatened. In fact, the Bearcats’ first drive began at the Cougars’ 49 after Gavin Olenjack’s opening kickoff return of 31 yards.
A forced fumble by Jake Gillespie was recovered by Davhon Keys to set up Keys’ own short touchdown run. Then, Gillespie returned a punt 51 yards to put Aledo in business at the College Station 15, followed shortly after by a 21-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
By halftime the advantage was 35-0.
The offense racked up almost 500 yards, almost twice as many as the defense surrendered. The defense registered seven tackles for loss and three sacks, along with forcing three turnovers.
And special teams, a part of the game of which most coaches preach importance, was a big factor. Along with the two long kick returns setting up touchdowns, Clay Murador kicked a 37-yard field goal and was 6-for-6 on extra-point kicks, while Cole Crawford was perfect on his lone PAT kick.
“We put really good players out there,” Buchanan said. “We work a bunch on special teams. A lot of people give lip service, but we work a bunch.”
A season that began in the most unfamiliar of ways ended up in what has become a usual fashion for the Bearcats.
Aledo opened 0-2 for the first time since Buchanan took the helm in 1993. They fell 24-17 at Dallas Parish Episcopal, followed by a 44-14 home loss to Denton Guyer.
Then came a string of 14 consecutive victories that culminated in another state title for Aledo, their 10th in the past 14 seasons. It is also their fourth in five seasons.
“It starts in practice. Even when we were 0-2, we’re out there practicing hard. We play as one,” senior defensive lineman Ansel Din-Mbuh said.
“Coach Buc always talks about the state championship winner is going to be the one who practices the hardest,” added fellow senior and defensive lineman Lawson Moore.
Buchanan often referenced those two opening losses weren’t to just any opponents. Episcopal would go on to win its fourth consecutive TAPPS Division I state championship and is 45-4 over the past four seasons. Guyer would finish 14-1 and reach the Class 6A Division II state semifinals, along with being ranked among the top teams in the nation.
“There’s no doubt this is extremely special,” Buchanan said of the championship. “The kids just never quit, the coaches never quit.”
This is the second time the Bearcats rebounded from a slow start to win state. In 2011 they were 1-2 after a 62-35 loss to Lake Travis, but also won their next 14 to take the title.
Saturday’s win was also a little payback. The only time since 2009 Aledo did not win a state championship after reaching the title contest was in 2017 when they lost 20-19 to College Station.
Once again Hejny played his best when the stage was the biggest.
The junior capped his first season as the starting quarterback with touchdown runs of 30 and 58 yards and TD passes of 7 and 51. He finished the game with 10 carries for 143 yards and completed 11 of 15 passes for 175 yards with no interceptions.
His performance gave Hejny a final season total of 1,278 yards and 15 TD rushing, along with 1,951 yards and 19 TD passing with six interceptions.
Gillespie, a junior defensive back, was a force in a variety of ways. His early forced fumble set the Bearcats up at College Station 37-yard line for a TD and a 14-0 lead. Then, he had a punt return of more than 51 yards to the Cougars’ 15, which led to another TD and a 21-0 advantage.
Then as the third quarter was coming to an end he intercepted a pass in the end zone that he returned 20 yards.
Oh, he also posted five tackles, including one for a loss of 4 yards.
The senior wide receiver bid adieu to Aledo in a big way. Not only did he set one record and tie another, he wrapped up his final season with the greatest game of his career.
Pope finished his season with 64 catches for 1,245 yards and 14 touchdowns.
He will next play for the Air Force Falcons.
Aledo’s scored a lot of points in state championship games. However, this was the Bearcats’ most dominant performance on both sides of the ball.
The 38-point margin of victory is the biggest, surpassing 35 in 2010’s 69-34 win over LaMarque.
As lopsided as the final score was, the game was nowhere near even that close. The Bearcats punted only once and were in position to score on their first 10 possessions and did score on eight, only missing a pair of long field goals.
Aledo 52, College Station 14
AT&T Stadium, Arlington
| College Station | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Aledo | 21 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 52 |
Rushing
Aledo: Hejny 10 carries, 143 yards, 2 TD; Hawk Patrick-Daniels 16-66; Caleb Pope 5-14; Keys 5-11, 2 TD; Ryan Cox 8-5; Cap Mooney 1-1.
College Station: Ayden Martinez-Brown 21-98, Zach Dang 1-3, Maiden 9-(-3).
Passing
Aledo: Hejny 11-of-15, 175 yards, 2 TD, 0 interceptions; Hayden 2-2, 82 yards, 1 TD, 0 interceptions.
College Station: Maiden 16-28, 149 yards, 2 TD, 1 interception; Cade Corcoran 1-1, 22 yards.
Receiving
Aledo: J. Pope 8 catches, 228 yards, 3 TD; Kaydon Finley 4-21; Gavin Olenjack 1-8.
College Station: Cashion 6-64, 2 TD; Jackson Verdugo 4-52; Anthony Tisdell Jr. 2-20; Martinez-Brown 2-12; Beau Kortan 2-1; Maiden 1-22.
Tackle leaders
Aledo: Jaden Allen 6, Andrew Parkhurst 5.5, Keys 5, Gillespie 5, Mooney 4.5, Boston Epley 3.5.
College Station: Shane Bellows 8.5, Harrison Robinson 6.5, Tony Hamilton 5.5, Chantz Johnson 5.5, Cinco Deegear 5.5.
Sacks
Aledo: Parkhurst 1 (-6 yards), Boukadoum 1 (-5), Lawson Moore 0.5 (-4), Christian Hillman 0.5 (-4).
College Station: None.
Tackles for loss
Aledo: Parkhurst 2 (-8), Lawson Moore 1.5 ((-7), Gillespie 1 (-4), Ansel Din-Mbuh 1 (-1), Boukadoum 1 (-5), Hillman 0.5 (-4).
Interceptions
Aledo: Gillespie 1 (20 yard return).
College Station: None.
Fumble recoveries
Aledo: Keys 1.
College Station: None.
Forced fumbles
Aledo: Gillespie 1.
College Station: None.
Blocked kicks
Aledo: None.
College Station: R.J. Casas 1.
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