Bearcats wrap up another district title with 35-21 win over Denton Ryan

Our kids answered the bell. We had two bad losses to start the season, but nobody ever thought about quitting. Our kids wanted this district championship.”

Aledo Head Coach Tim Buchanan

Editor's note: This story was updated with official stats on Oct. 26 at 10:16 a.m.

Faced with the prospect of not winning district for the first time since the iPhone debuted and Luka Doncic was in elementary school, the Aledo Bearcats responded with their biggest victory of the season.

One week after their previous biggest victory of the season.

And now, 110 league victories later — a national record — the Bearcats are celebrating their 15th consecutive district title following Friday's 35-21 victory against Denton Ryan at C.H. Collins Stadium in Denton.

"Our kids answered the bell. We had two bad losses to start the season, but nobody ever thought about quitting. Our kids wanted this district championship," Bearcats coach Tim Buchanan said.

Had Ryan won, the district would likely have ended in a three-way between Aledo, Ryan and Burleson Centennial. The Spartans defeated Ryan 23-16 on Oct. 7 and Aledo routed Centennial 64-21 on Oct. 14.

So, barring a Ryan blowout win, the Bearcats were still in good shape to be the top seed from the district for the playoffs based on the points tie-breaking system. Of course, that's a moot point now and something Aledo wasn’t interested in, Buchanan said.

"We never really talked to them about that," he said. "They wanted to go out and win it outright and that's what they did."

The Bearcats are now 7-2 overall and 7-0 in District 3-5A Division I. Ryan fell to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in district and will likely finish third in the league.

After opening the season with back-to-back losses at Dallas Parish Episcopal (24-17), the state's top-ranked private school in the Dave Campbell's/Associated Press rankings, and at home to Denton Guyer (44-14), No. 6 in Class 6A, Aledo got on a roll in league play. The Bearcats have outscored their district opponents 396-96, an average of 57-14.

And in the past two weeks they have defeated a team in Centennial that was ranked No. 6 in the state at the time and a Ryan team that has been ranked No. 3 in the state the first week of October.

"It's so unbelievable how much they've improved," Buchanan said of his team. "They've turned into real Bearcats the last two weeks."

Aledo entered the weekend ranked fourth, but No. 3 College Station lost 49-38 to Georgetown.

After Ryan rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to tie the game at 21 on touchdown passes of 50 and 5 yards from Khalon Davis to Jordyn Bailey, it looked as though Aledo's streak might be in jeopardy. The Raiders had momentum and had forced back-to-back punts by the Bearcats.

But Aledo quarterback Hauss Hejny and his teammates had other ideas. He led the Bearcats on a seven-play 65-yard drive, finished by a 24-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Pope and a 27-21 lead.

The point-after attempt was blocked, however, leaving the Raiders with 7:16 and a touchdown and PAT of their own away from history. Instead, the Aledo defense clamped down, and on third-and-10, Jayton Owens intercepted a hurried pass.

The celebration was short-lived, though, as two plays later Aledo turned the ball back over on a fumble at the Ryan 23. Again, the defense held and forced Ryan to punt — a booming 60-yarder.

Hejny then used his legs to once again make it a two-score lead as he raced 86 yards on the first play. His ensuing two-point conversion pass to Tyson Timms capped the scoring.

Any last gasp hope for Ryan was erased when Skyler Frank jumped on a fumbled pooch kickoff at the Raiders 30 with 3:48 to play. From there the Bearcats ran out the clock, ending the contest on the Ryan 6-yard line.

"I saw the ball on the ground. I could have scooped it, but I just wanted to make sure I got on it to get my offense in a great position," Frank said. "It feels amazing. A lot of people were doubting us after those first two weeks, but we knew what kind of team we had."

The game began with Ryan in control as the Raiders forced the Bearcats to punt on their first possession. Subsequently, Ryan went 53 yards in five plays and took a 7-0 lead on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Davis to Da'Marquis Lewis.

Then Aledo took over, scoring on their next three possessions, each a 10-play drive that consumed 4:42, 4:49 and 5:19 off the clock, respectively. The first drive ended with a 9-yard run by Caleb as the opening period ended in a 7-7 tie.

The second was capped with a 9-yard run from Hejny for a 14-7 lead three minutes into the second quarter, and Davhon Keys made the score 21-7 with a 6-yard run with 1:48 to go before the half.

"This is such a great feeling," Keys said of the district championship. "After those first two games it was rocky, but we stayed on our path. We still worked hard and played hard. We play for each other because we knew what we could do."

Aledo dominated the time of possession, holding onto the ball for more than eight minutes in three of the four quarters.

The Bearcats have a bye week before finishing the regular season at home against Brewer (2-6, 2-4 in district) at home on Nov. 4. After that they will face the fourth-place team from District 4-5A Division I in the first round of the playoffs, probably at Bearcat Stadium the weekend of Nov. 11.

After this past week's games, Killeen Shoemaker and Killeen Ellison are tied for that spot, a half game behind Lake Belton.

Scoring

R - Da’ Marquis Lewis 24 pass from Khalon Davis (Daniel Rodriguez kick)
A - Caleb Pope 9 run (Cole Crawford kick)
A - Hauss Hejny 9 run (Crawford kick)
A - Dahvon Keys 6 run (Crawford kick)
R - Jordyn Bailey 50 pass from Davis (Rodriguez kick)
R - Bailey 5 pass from Davis (Rodriguez kick)
A - Jalen Pope 24 pass from Hejny (kick blocked)
A - Hejny 86 run (Timms pass from Hejny)

Team statistics

First downs: Aledo 18, Ryan 13.
Rushes-yards: Aledo 47-280, Ryan 22-154.
Passing yards: Aledo 154, Ryan 157.
Caught-thrown-intercepted: Aledo 10-13-1, Ryan 12-19-1.
Punts-average: Aledo 3-37.0, Ryan 3-38.7.
Fumbles-lost: Aledo 3-1, Ryan 2-1.
Penalties-yards: Aledo 2-25, Ryan 5-30.
Third-down conversions: Aledo 5-9, Ryan 1-6.
Fourth-down conversions: Aledo 1-1, Ryan 0-2.
Time of possession: Aledo 28:45, Ryan 19:15.

Individuals

Rushing

Aledo: Hejny 13 carries, 132 yards, 2 TD; C. Pope 15-86, TD; Hawk Patrick-Daniels 11-40; Keys 8-22, TD.
Ryan: Kalib Hicks 17-89, Bailey 4-50.

Passing
Aledo: Hejny 10-of-13, 151 yards, TD, interception.
Ryan: Davis 12-of-18, 157 yards, 3 TD, interception; Braeden Mussett 0-1.

Receiving
Aledo: J. Pope 5-87, TD; Tyson Timms 3-33; C. Pope 1-26; Kaydon Finley 1-5.
Ryan: Bailey 5-82, 2 TD; Lewis 4-65.
Aledo interception: Jayton Owens.
Aledo defensive fumble recovery: Skyler Frank.