Bearcats continue work on bye week

Don’t call it an off week for the Aledo football team this week. They just don’t have a game on the schedule.

“We don’t tell them (players) it’s a week off. We tell them we’ll kick ‘Open’s’ butt this week,” coach Tim Buchanan said.

Officially, this is a bye week for the Bearcats, who clinched the District 3-5A Division I championship last Friday with a 35-21 victory at Denton Ryan. It’s their 15th consecutive district title. It also extended their national-record district winning streak to 110 games, dating to 2007.

“What you don’t want to do is not do anything,” Buchanan said. “Now, practice is a little bit shorter and there’s not as much hitting, but we are definitely working. 

“We’ll work on things like, with running backs, ball security, seeing inside and letting the offensive line work to block. Quarterbacks will go through progressions, we’ll work on defensive fundamentals.

“We use the open week to become better football players.”

The Bearcats (7-2 overall, 7-0 in district) have one more game before hosting a bi-district game the weekend of Nov. 10-12, against the fourth-place team from District 4-5A Division I. They will end the regular season at home on Friday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. against Brewer (2-6, 2-4).

Added confidence

If there was any doubt about just how good this year’s Bearcats are, it was erased the past two weeks. On Nov. 7 they went to Burleson and demolished an undefeated Centennial squad that was state-ranked, 64-21. They followed that with a trip to Denton to take down a Ryan team that had been ranked as high as No. 2 in the state this season, 35-21.

And now, the Bearcats are sitting atop the heap in district, something they’ve gotten quite accustomed to over the years.

“Two things came out of those two wins,” Buchanan said. “First, a lot of confidence in themselves, individual players and in the football team. Second, it told our coaching our team can put two good games vs. really good opponents back-to-back, and that’s what you have to do in the playoffs.

Tradition’s role

When you’ve won as much as Aledo has in football, tradition can play a key role in success. No players want to be on the team that DIDN’T win district, or had the record district winning streak ended.

So, while the schedule makers did the Bearcats no favor this season with back-to-back road games in Burleson and Denton, Aledo had tradition on its side. However, the players still had to go out and win the games, Buchanan noted.

“The tradition helped the kids have the confidence to win the game, but they are the ones who won the game, especially at Ryan, because Ryan wasn’t intimidated at all. They have their own tradition,” Buchanan said. 

“Who you know will get you in the room. What you do once you are in the room, that’s up to you.”

Possible bi-district foes

The Bearcats will host a bi-district game sometime between Nov. 10 and 12. Who it will be remains to be seen as there is a battle for fourth place in District 4-5A Division I.

Entering this weekend only one game separated second place from fifth place in the standings, with Red Oak (7-1, 5-1), Lake Belton (7-2, 5-2), Killeen Shoemaker (6-2, 4-2) and Killeen Elllison (5-3, 4-2) in the hunt. Killeen (3-5, 2-4) and Granbury (4-4, 2-4) also have an outside shot at fourth place.

State rankings

The Bearcats find themselves third in the three major state ranking polls this week, Padilla, MaxPreps, and Dave Campbell’s/Associated Press. 

Also ranked from the district are Centennial, No. 10 in Padilla and No. 8 in MaxPreps; Ryan, No. 12 in Padilla; and Justin Northwest, No. 23 in MaxPreps.

District 3-5A Division I standings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

x = clinched district championship
y = clinched playoff berth

Last week’s results

Aledo 35, Denton Ryan 21
Justin Northwest 65, South Hills 0
The Colony 58, Azle 34
Burleson Centennial 51, Brewer 6
Saginaw bye

This week’s games (all 7 p.m. starts Friday)
Centennial at Northwest
South Hills at Azle
Ryan at Brewer
The Colony at Saginaw
Aledo bye

Nov. 4 games (end of regular season, all at 7 p.m.)

Brewer at Aledo
Azle at Centennial
Northwest at Ryan
Saginaw at South Hills
The Colony bye