Midway brings quality run game to Tim Buchanan Stadium

Prior to Week 1, it was business as usual for the Aledo Bearcats, even after a move up to Class 6A.

However, in unusual fashion, the Bearcats not only lost the season opener to North Crowley but were shut out for the first time since December 2003.

The Bearcats look to bounce back from that loss and prove it was a fluke. They’ll take on the Waco Midway Panthers at home in another non-district matchup, in what should be another early test for this year’s Bearcats.

Aledo head coach Robby Jones emphasized moving forward from the loss and learning from prior mistakes.

“The kids are locked in and focused, ready to put last week behind us, and get started on a win streak,” Jones said. “We’ve had better practices this week, so I think we’re going to see a better result this week.”

The Panthers are coming off a Week 1 19-0 shutout of Rouse. They’re anchored by running back Lathan Whisenton, a 4-star recruit who’s committed to the University of Notre Dame.

“Defensively, we’ve gotta stop their run game. That’s where they make their money as well. [Whisenton] is a good running back, and we’re gonna have to bottle him up and stop the run game.”

Aledo didn’t move the ball offensively as they would’ve hoped in Week 1, but Jones looks to change that in this week’s matchup.

“We had signs during the game of offensive production. We were moving the ball and then we would make a mistake, and that mistake would cost us the drive,” Jones said. “We’ve gotta get more consistent on offense as far as not having any mistakes, because right now mistakes are killing us. We had several opportunities to go down and score, and we didn’t finish the drives.”

The Bearcats want to quiet the critics with a victory in Week 2.

“There’s a lot of hate towards the Aledo football program that’s out there,” Jones said. “A lot of people are gonna be critics. I don’t listen to critics. Critics are gonna be critics, and they love the fact that we lost a football game. We’re gonna move on and not worry about the outside people.”

Aledo’s Week 2 game kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4.