Aledo aimed to start fast in its game against Arlington to gain early momentum.
The Bearcats got the result they wanted when running back Wyatt Dorsey rushed for a 59-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, en route to their 42-28 road win over the Arlington Colts on Oct. 16 at Maverick Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington.
“Starting off fast is what we really talked about this week,” Dorsey said. “Starting with the lead helps you a lot to pick up momentum.”
The Colts tied the game on the next drive with a 54-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Canon Cambron to wide receiver Jackson Nelson, but that was as close as they got in the scoring margin all night. After a fumble by Aledo in Arlington territory the following drive, the Bearcats’ defense responded by forcing a three-and-out.
On Aledo’s next offensive drive, backup quarterback Elijah Pinnick connected with wide receiver Maddox Nurse for a 30-yard touchdown at the 2:25 mark of the first quarter. Arlington faked a punt on its next drive, but the Aledo defense stopped it to force a turnover on downs.
To start the second quarter, starting quarterback Tre Williams tossed a 15-yard touchdown to wide receiver Cade Nussbaum to increase Aledo’s lead to 14.
Aledo got offensive contributions from a couple of players who usually see action on the defense.A 36-yard rush by cornerback Jordan Hall to Arlington’s 19-yard line put the Bearcats in scoring position at the nine-minute mark of the second quarter, which led to linebacker Cole Cox catching a two-yard pass from Williams for a touchdown.
Following another stop by the defense, Dorsey scored his second rushing touchdown of the night with less than two minutes left in the first half, this time from 48 yards out.
Aledo took a 35-7 lead into halftime.
Aledo capped off its scoring at the beginning of the third quarter when Williams found Nussbaum from 31 yards out for the pair’s second touchdown of the night.
Nussbaum, taking over for starting wide receiver Kane Lanier, who is injured, relished his new role.
“It feels good, you know,” Nussbaum said. “Kane’s my mentor, and he’s been out there teaching me. It feels good to finally break through.”
While Aledo went up 35-7 at halftime and scored quickly to increase the lead to 42-7, Arlington chipped away at the lead in the second half, combining for three rushing touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters.
Aledo head coach Robby Jones expressed disappointment in the second-half points given up.
“We felt great at halftime. We were up big, things were rolling offensively and defensively. We came out in the second half, scored, and it’s almost like the wheels fell off,” Jones said. “It’s like we relaxed and didn’t have the focus that we needed to have to finish out that football game. We need to make sure that in the next couple of games, if we get in that situation again, that we remain focused and finish the game off. It’s what I was telling them at halftime. A win’s a win, but I would’ve liked to have finished it off with that 35-point lead that we had at one time.”
The Bearcats thwarted the Colts’ comeback when they forced a turnover on downs with 1:47 to play.
With the win, Aledo improved to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in district play. The Bearcats will return home in their next game to face the Weatherford Kangaroos on Oct. 23.
Jones looks forward to that game.
“Weatherford, they’re our neighbors. We haven’t played them in a few years, so it’s going be good getting back on the field with them. We’re going to treat it as a rivalry game, because it’s in Parker County. We’ve just got to go make sure that we’re ready for the football game.”
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