BACK ON TOP: Bearcats bring home 11th State Championship

Editor's Note: Denton Guyer was corrected to Denton Ryan in the sixth and seventh paragraphs - Dec. 23, 8:51 a.m.

We should have known all along how this would end.

It’s hard to imagine a team that had won nine state championships since 2009, including most recently a second three-peat in 2018-20, would feel the need to prove anything.

Yet, that’s where the Aledo Bearcats found themselves after starting 0-2 for the first time since Tim Buchanan came to town as head coach in 1993. Even in his first season, in which the team went 2-8, they managed a split of their first two games.

But since then, only four other times had Aledo dropped back-to-back games. The last time it happened was in 2007, after which the Bearcats began what is now a national-record 111-game district winning streak.

So, perhaps we should have seen it coming. After all, those two season-opening losses weren’t to just anybody. Dallas Parish Episcopal (a 24-17 road loss) finished 12-1 and won a fourth consecutive TAPPS Division I championship, while Denton Guyer (a 44-14 home loss) went on to go 14-1 and reach the 6A Division II semifinals, losing to eventual state champion DeSoto.

At the time, however, there was admittedly some concern that perhaps this was the year Aledo would have an “ordinary” season. After all, they still had a trip to face highly touted Denton Ryan, who was placed in the same district with the Bearcats in February’s biennial UIL realignment — the time when it was also announced Aledo was moving up to 5A Division I.

Ryan was even picked by most to win district and end a string of 14 consecutive league championships by the Bearcats.

In the end, however, it was another memorable season for Aledo that ended in another state championship. They reeled off 14 consecutive victories and capped them with a 52-14 win over College Station at AT&T Stadium, aka Bearcat Stadium East, on Saturday, Dec. 17.

“The way we started, no one expected us to be where we’re at,” Buchanan said. “These kids worked their tails off. They’ve literally gotten better every day.”

It was the 11th in their history, started by one in 1998 before they began their run for the ages in 2009 with the first three-peat and followed with titles in 2013 and 2014. The 2013 squad, you will recall, remains the only team at any level, from peewee to the NFL, ever to score more than 1,000 points in a season.

It was also the eighth championship as a head coach for Buchanan, who dubbed himself “Eight-Time Timmy” at the press conference following the recent title game. He is only the fifth coach in Texas history with that many championships, tying G.A. Moore and trailing only Gordon Wood, Jerry Burkhart and Scott Surratt with nine each.

In fact, Surratt won his ninth last week as Carthage captured the 4A Division II championship with a 42-0 win over Wimberley, prompting someone in the press box to suggest Aledo and Carthage play in the near future.

While it has become a cliche’ statement, there is a solid truth in “taking it one game at a time.” That’s what the Bearcats did, not letting the results of the first two games weigh them down in opening district with a 49-20 victory at Justin Northwest, which also reached the playoffs. From there, the victories just kept piling up, along with the confidence and determination.

Another cliche’ is “never underestimate the heart of a champion.” However, nothing else seems suitable when describing this season’s Bearcats.

“Coach Buc says take care of the little things and winning will take care of itself,” said senior defensive lineman Ansel Din-Mbuh, who is headed to play at Washington State University.

That championship heartbeat grew stronger and louder with each step closer to proving naysayers wrong, to show that all other programs should still look up to Aledo as the epitome of success, It  was referenced by players after they were an underdog at Burleson Centennial but left with a 64-21 victory, then again when they were underdogs but won 35-21 at Denton Ryan.

In those two games quarterback Hauss Hejny showed that he is a championship leader, accounting for almost 750 yards of offense and nine touchdowns. He would go on to be named offensive MVP of the state championship game, while his top receiver, senior Jalen Pope, set a 5A championship game record with eight catches for 228 yards and three touchdowns (which tied another mark).

Junior defensive back Jake Gillespie was the state title game defensive MVP.

Even in the state semifinals the Bearcats found themselves underdogs before knocking off previously perfect and No. 1 ranked Longview (14-1), overcoming an 11-point halftime deficit for a 17-14 win. The game featured a two-hour delay for lightning as play was stopped with only 56 seconds left in regulation.

Offensive lineman Isaac Sohn, who missed the final few games of the season with an injury, said he knew his team was on a mission that wasn’t going to end until they held another trophy high.

“It’s amazing. It’s next man up,” said the University of Texas-San Antonio commit. “We all had the same desire.”

Buchanan said each championship is special, but this one — which was not expected, given how the season began — is extremely so.

“The kids never quit, the coaches never quit,” he said, adding that such determination will make them “very successful in life.”

Yep, we should have known how this would end.

The Community News will publish its 11th State Championship Section in mid-January.