It was a hot night at Tim Buchanan Stadium on Friday, Sept. 20, when the Birdville Hawks came to town to play the Aledo Bearcats. Temperatures at the 7 p.m. kickoff were in the upper 90s.
But even as the sun was going down, things remained hot on the field as Bearcats quarterback Gavin Beard was on fire. The junior was near-perfect throwing the ball with an unofficial 12-of-13 night for 179 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions as Aledo won 56-0 in its homecoming.
The Bearcats improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in District 3-5A Division I. Birdville fell to 2-2 and 1-1.
Aledo also improved to 5-0 all-time against Birdville.
Beard had missed the past two games with an upper back injury. In his absence, sophomore backup Nash McElree led the Bearcats to two victories, including his own near-perfect night (11-of-13, 202 yards, 3 TD, 0 interceptions) in a 64-0 win over Brewer the week before.
“I was really excited to get back with my team. I was frustrated not being to play,” Beard said. “Nash did a good job in those two wins.”
Beard looked as though he hadn’t missed a single snap. His second pass of the game fell incomplete and that was the only one. After that he completed his final 11 attempts.
“I was just ready to play and get everybody involved tonight,” Beard said.
“That’s what we were expecting out of him,” Bearcats coach Robby Jones said. “That’s what Gavin is capable doing any time he steps on the field.”
Jones also praised Beard for giving props to McElree’s performance the previous two outings.
“It shows a lot of character,” Jones said. “But we’re a team, we pull for each other.
“And Nash did do a good job. We got two wins.”
In fact, McElree had a 7-yard touchdown pass in this win to Jamal Hollister to end the evening’s scoring.
Beard’s completions went to four different receivers, with the bulk going to fellow junior and longtime friend Kaydon Finley, who unofficially hauled in seven for 103 yards, including touchdowns of 40 and 35 yards. The first made the score 14-0 after the opening quarter and the second increased the advantage to 42-0 in the third.
“Me and Gavin, we grew up together. Our first year together was fourth grade,” Finley said. “The chemistry is definitely there.”
Then, upon hearing of Beard’s statistics, Finley added, “That’s crazy! I knew he was having a great night, but wow!”
Jones added, “Those two guys really complement one another. They had a big night together. You get the ball to your playmakers.”
Beard’s other touchdown pass went for 53 yards to Blake Burdine.
For a second straight game the Bearcats posted a shutout. In fact, the defense even got in on the scoring.
The first score of the game was by senior linebacker Ben McElree. Following a swarming sack of Hawks quarterback Zach Wells, he scooped up a fumble and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead just under four minutes into the game.
It was one of five sacks the Bearcats had in the game. They also limited Birdville to a yard or less on 20 of the Hawks’ 41 running plays, including nine for negative yardage.
“Our defense is pretty good. That’s Aledo defense out there,” Jones said.
In addition, Birdville managed to convert just three of 13 third-down attempts and was 1-for-4 on fourth down. The Bearcats were 2-for-4 and did not attempt a fourth down.
The Bearcats didn’t run the ball as much as usual, but when they did the results were big. They finished with an unofficial 177 yards on just 19 carries.
Ray Guillory had touchdown runs of 10 and 19 yards on his way to an unofficial 72 yards on nine carries. While he didn’t reach the end zone, Kaden Winkfield led all rushers in the game with an unofficial 82 yards on six carries, including a 40-yard run.
Seven of the rushes went for more 10 yards.
Lincoln Tubbs provided a highlight when he returned the opening kickoff of the second half 74 yards for a touchdown.
“I saw the ball. I was backing up and I realized I had time to run,” Tubbs said. “I made the first guy miss and all I saw was green grass.”
The Bearcats are back on the road with a short week as they travel to Keller to play Fossil Ridge (1-3, 1-1). The Panthers are coming off a 31-16 victory at Granbury.
The game is Thursday, Sept. 26. Aledo leads the all-time series 2-0 with wins of 26-3 in 2006 and 21-7 in 2007.
| Bearcats 56, Hawks 0 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birdville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
| Aledo | 14 | 14 | 21 | 7 | - | 56 |
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