FOOTBALL: No. 1 Bearcats to face off against Lancaster

The No. 1 Aledo Bearcats opened their season with an impressive 21-14 victory over the Denton Guyer Wildcats, who entered Class 6A competition as the 11th-ranked squad. The Bearcats used suffocating defense to tame the Wildcats to the tune of 40 first-half yards and two first downs in the first two quarters. Fueled by tenacious energy and relentless pursuit, Aledo held true and ended the contest, fittingly, with a defensive stop.

“Just the way they were running around and flying around to the football,” Bearcats head coach Robby Jones said of his defense. “You know, we didn’t have guys out there that were loafin’. All 11 guys were out there trying to get to the ball, you know, and guys were just making plays.”

Senior Cooper Cyphers was highly disruptive with three tackles, one sack and four passes broken up while senior safety Kamron Hall recorded 3.5 tackles, broke up one pass and blocked a field goal try.

While the defense shined and the offense proved effective, Aledo did show some early signs of nerves against Denton Guyer as they fumbled the ball on the opening play from scrimmage and committed a few procedural penalties, but Jones is confident those miscues are in the rearview.

“We’ve got the nerves out of our system. Those first couple of drives, we had some false starts and had to burn some timeouts because the play wasn’t getting run as quickly as we would like for it to get run. We also have a couple of missed tackles that we cleaned up a little bit later. If we don’t have the missed tackles, they (Denton Guyer) might not score on us the other night. I think the nerves are going to be gone and we are going to be ready to roll this week.”

Jones said the team has focused on elevating the production of the passing game, which only accounted for 45 of the team’s 237 total yards of offense. Aledo will emphasize getting senior wideout Kaydon Finley, a team captain and Notre Dame-commit, while also perfecting timing and route running.

“I think in practice this week, we’ve been a little more consistent with getting the ball out to the receivers,” Jones said. “Before the last couple of weeks, we saw a lot of balls hitting the ground, and they were hitting the ground because maybe we were off target and things like that. I think that we’re getting a little more consistent with hitting the right spots and being where we’re supposed to be and the ball getting there. That’s been good to see in practice the last two mornings. A lot of it has to do with how hard we’re running in practice, and I think our receivers realize that, ‘Hey, for our quarterbacks to get the correct timing, we’ve got to make sure that we’re running our routes like it’s a Friday Night route.”

Aledo’s next opponent will be the No. 22 Lancaster Tigers of Class 6A Division I. The Tigers suffered a narrow, 22-18 defeat to the defending Class 6A champion North Crowley Panthers in their opener, and Jones knows how lethal the Tigers’ speed can be, headlined by running backs Izayah Lee and Kewan Lacy.

“Lancaster’s speed makes them very, very dangerous,” Jones said. “They have two Division I running backs that, if we give them a crease, they’re going to outrun us to the end zone. They also have some receivers that can do the same thing. On defense, they can roll in several different guys in the secondary. The guys that started their last game got rotated out after their  second series. One of their guys that made an interception in the secondary is a three-star recruit off the bench.”

Along with the Tigers’ explosiveness at the skill position, they possess depth and athleticism in the secondary, which will provide a formidable challenge for Aledo as it refines its passing attack.

“So, they’re very deep in the secondary, which will make it a challenge for the passing game, but we aren’t going to be afraid to try to get the ball to our receivers,” Jones said. “Our receivers are equally as good, so we’re going to try to get the passing game going even though we are seeing a really good secondary. But, the fact that they do have the track speed, that causes problems.”

One major advantage the Bearcats feel they bring to the table is a familiarity with schematics and personnel of their opposition. As Aledo continues to study its next opponent, Jones believes the familiarity will only help their meticulous preparation.

“Schematically, they’re really similar to us. They run a 4-3 defense that slides to a 4-2, which our offense goes against all spring, and their offense mirrors ours as well,” Jones said. “They run a lot of four-wide sets and they’ll be in some three-wide, two-back sets. So, the sets that they run are really similar – it’s stuff that our kids are used to lining up to – so I think we have a big-time advantage of that. They do run some different schemes, so we just have to get prepared for them throughout the week.”

Furthermore, Jones said the offensive and defensive lines will be the biggest difference makers in the upcoming matchup and bring a definitive advantage to the match up. Along with that, he said he expects to see the receivers and quarterbacks synergize with one another well through precise route running, timing and execution. If these things can be accomplished, and done so cleanly, Jones sees the Bearcats having an enjoyable evening under the Friday night lights.

“Aledo beats Lancaster if we take care of the football, no turnovers and our offensive and defensive lines impose their will on Lancaster,” Jones said. “If we do those things, we’re going to have a good night.”

Aledo will hit the road for the first time this year for their matchup with Lancaster at 7 p.m. Friday at Beverly D. Humphrey Tiger Stadium.