No. 1 Aledo routs Azle 73-0 on Senior Night

From the opening play of the night, the rout was on at Tim Buchanan Stadium in front of a sea of orange-and-black-clad fans on a spooky, Halloween Friday night. Senior quarterback Lincoln Tubbs hits star senior wideout Kaydon Finley on a pop pass on the first play from scrimmage, and the Notre Dame commit raced to the end zone untouched for a 66-yard score. From there, the Aledo offense continued to score at will while the consistently stingy defense produced its third shutout of the season in a 73-0 victory.

“We’ve gotten a lot more consistent on offense here recently, and that’s been the big key,” Bearcats head coach Robby Jones said. “The defense has played this well all year, but offensively we are starting to come around a little bit. We’re starting to find the groove and we need to keep that going into the playoffs because we’re going to find some really good defenses, and it’s going to be tough going at times.”

To his point, Jones’ potent offense has been on a tear as of late. The Bearcats have amassed more than 1,500 yards of offense in their past three games alone, outscoring their opponents 206-10 overall. Against Azle, Aledo lit up the scoreboard early and often. Star senior running back Kaden Winkfield ran across the goal line twice in the opening quarter, and has continued to be a consistent force for the ’Cats out of the backfield, thanks to the ones who came before him.

“To me, especially since I’ve had some people in front of me teaching me and leading the way, especially Ray (Guillory) and John Gray,” Winkfield said. “I really appreciate them the most – all glory to the Lord.”

Later, Tubbs connected with wideout Bayne Martin for 48 yards to set up another short score.

Aledo continued to pour it on in the second quarter while defense made gaining a few inches a difficult task for the Hornets offense. Tubbs tossed two short scoring passes to Finley along with a 19-yarder to tight end Skylar Kirk. Senior running back Brady Powell provided the highlight-reel play for Aledo with his 90-yard rumble to the end zone at the 4:55 mark of the second quarter. With a 63-0 lead at the half, Jones and his staff emptied the benches, allowing plenty of non-starting seniors to get well deserved action on the field.

“That’s one of the things you’re trying to do all year is get the backups a lot of good, quality reps so that if something were to happen and they all of a sudden become a starter, they’re ready to go,” Jones said. “I appreciate all of our seniors, whether they are a starter or not. We love them all the same. We were trying to get some of them some footballs, we had a couple of them drop their opportunities, but we still appreciate all the hard work that these guys put in because they’re up here multiple hours a day all year round. And, it’s a grind that they all go through, so we definitely appreciate them and their efforts.”

In the second half, Nicholas Robles’ interception set up senior running back Rudy Moya’s 37-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 70-0. Early in the fourth quarter, senior kicker Payton Shaffer booted a 39-yard field goal for the final 73-0 margin.

“Here at Aledo, it’s all about family,” Winkfield said. “It’s all about the team, and I love it. I’m just glad to be here. I’m ready to get this game out of the way, hit the playoffs, make it to state and hopefully get another ring.”

Tubbs impressed with 271 passing yards and four passing touchdowns with three of them going to Finley, who hauled in four passes for 84 yards. Martin was strong outside the numbers with three catches for 112 yards while senior Jamal Hollister had three receptions for 29 yards. Winkfield produced 66 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries while Powell had five carries for 128 yards and a touchdown.

The Bearcats (9-0, 7-0) will take the field in one more regular season game at 7 p.m. Friday at Denton.