No. 1 Aledo exacts revenge, blows out No. 2 Denton Ryan for Region I crown

Frank Sinatra once said, “The best revenge is massive success.” In poetic fashion, these words perfectly encapsulated the No. 1 Aledo Bearcats’ overwhelmingly dominant performance in their state quarterfinal matchup against the No. 2 Denton Ryan Raiders.

“We were very motivated and very locked in for this matchup because, you know, about a year ago, we lost to them,” star junior defensive tackle Tymon Meeks said. “We had the lead last year, but we went to the locker room and the second half was like, ‘Let’s keep our foot on their necks.’ So, that’s what we did, we kept the pressure on them.”

After the Raiders prematurely ended Aledo’s season a year ago as they quested towards a UIL-record extending 13th state title, the Bearcats exacted revenge in convincing fashion under the bright lights in a high-pressure, high-intensity environment Friday night at Justin Northwest ISD Stadium. There, the Bearcats hit the pedal to the metal early and never looked back, out-gaining their district rivals by 300 yards in the first half alone en route to a 43-17 victory. With the win, Aledo will represent Region I in Class 5A Division I.

“We’re for real, we’re not just a bunch of hype,” Bearcats’ head coach Robby Jones said. “We went out and played a pretty good football team and we executed at a high level. If we continue to do that, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”

The Bearcats out-gained the Raiders 341-41 in the first half and built a 33-3 halftime advantage behind four rushing touchdowns from senior quarterback Lincoln Tubbs and another by senior running back Kaden Winkfield. That, coupled with Aledo’s suffocating defense, allowed the 2023 state champions to stay in firm control of the contest throughout.

“The first half is the best half we’ve played offensively and defensively all year as a team,” Jones said. “How the guys played in the first half, it might have been a little lapse in there in the second half, but they were able to regain a little bit of that momentum with the touchdown to (Kaydon) Finley, and then we started playing the twos. Extremely pleased with how we played, give all the credit to these kids. They’ve been waiting for this moment for a full year, and they were able to go out and play the way they wanted to play.”

Aledo scored on its opening drive as Tubbs found paydirt from seven yards out on 4th-and-goal to put the Bearcats ahead 7-0 with 10:24 left in the first quarter. The Bearcats forced Denton Ryan to punt on its opening defensive series, but the Bearcats muffed the punt that put the Raiders in plus territory. Despite that, though, Aledo held Ryan to a field goal try, which cut the deficit to 7-3 with 6:05 remaining in the frame.

After that, it was all Aledo.

Winkfield burst through the Raiders defense for a 44-yard gain that set up an athletic, weaving 30-yard touchdown scamper by Tubbs, who pushed the advantage to 14-3 with 4:39 left in the first. After the defense ushered Denton Ryan off the field in three plays, Tubbs capped off another scoring drive with a 10-yard scamper that stretched the lead to 20-3 just 32 seconds into the second quarter.

A big sack by defensive star Cooper Cyphers forced Denton Ryan to punt the ball in a hurry back to Aledo’s red-hot offense, who continued to sizzle on its next possession as Winkfield plunged in from a yard out to culminate Aledo’s latest scoring drive that put the score at 27-3 with 6:34 to go before halftime. Tubbs used his legs for a last-second rushing score – a 2-yard rush – with five seconds before intermission to make it a 33-3 ballgame, which held up as the halftime score.

Tubbs picked up where he left off in the first half in terms of his offensive prowess, but dazzled the Denton Ryan defense with his arm in the fourth. Tubbs, who completed all seven of his pass attempts, saved his best for star senior wideout Kaydon Finley, who split four Denton Ryan defenders beautifully with his route concept, and bolted to the house untouched from 40 yards out to provide an exclamation point to Aledo’s dominant performance. The long score pushed Aledo ahead 43-10 with 11:16 left in the fourth quarter.

“He’s made – I don’t know how to describe that – but he’s made quite a bit of improvement, and it’s all just a testament to how good of a kid he is,” Jones said of Tubbs. “He’s a great kid. He’s done everything that’s ever been asked of him in this football program. He was asked to go play receiver last year. He went and did it, and now he’s been asked to lead this team to a state championship, and he’s doing a great job of it so far.”

While the defense allowed more than 14 points for the first time all season, the Bearcats were highly impressive and opportunistic, forcing two fumbles and collecting numerous sacks along the way. The continuity between the defenders showed up in the form of great production when the team needed it most in its biggest game of the season.

“It’s mental. We trusted all our guys around us to make plays,” Meeks said. “When you’ve got a whole bunch of guys that you trust around you, it’s easier to play. (This defense) can go all the way to state, for sure. You can take it all the way to state and win state – that’s a fact.”

Tubbs led the way with 106 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries to go with 147 passing yards and a score. Finley led the receiving corps with four catches for 113 yards and a touchdown while Winkfield logged a team-high 136 yards on 17 carries to go with his own score.

The Bearcats (14-0, 8-0) earned the Region I crown with the win over Denton Ryan (12-2, 7-1) and will next face No. 3 Frisco Lone Star (14-0, 8-0), who is coming off a 58-38 win over No. 5 Highland Park in the Region II title game. Aledo and Lone Star will compete in the Class 5A Division I state semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday at Vernon Newsome Stadium in Mansfield.