The Aledo Bearcats haven’t lost to the Brewer Bears since the last millennium, 1999, to be exact.
It was, however, an upset of the defending state champions for the Bears as Aledo was coming off the first state title season in its history. They have, of course, added 11 more championships since and Brewer has come about as close to defeating Aledo as Paris Hilton has a chance to win an acting Oscar.
Aledo enters the game Friday night in White Settlement having an 18-2 advantage in the overall series. The Bearcats have won the past 16 straight in the series, including 59-13 last season.
The Bearcats bounced back soundly last week, defeating Lancaster 37-27 at home after losing their home opener 35-30 at Denton Guyer. The Bears, meanwhile, are off to a 0-2 start with losses to Saginaw, 26-13 at home, and 27-14 at Lake Dallas, both of who have started the season 2-0.
Brewer was picked to be a playoff team in the preseason by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, considered to be the authority on high school football in the state. Aledo, of course, was picked to once again win district.
“We tell them (players) to respect our opponents no matter what their record is,” Aledo coach Robby Jones said. “We’re not going into this game working on somebody else. We’re working on Brewer.”
It’s impossible to mention a new district season for the Bearcats and not mention their league winning streak - a national record - of 119 games. The last time they lost a district game was 2007.
In fact, that team dropped a pair of games to start league play 0-2, falling 31-28 to Stephenville and 35-28 to Everman. They went on to finish 11-3 and reach the state semifinals.
By the way, that season began with a 54-0 win over Brewer, the biggest win by either team in the series.
It hasn’t been that long since Brewer was in the playoffs. The Bears finished 8-3 in 2021, reaching the postseason for a second straight year under head coach Todd Peterman, who won back-to-back state championships as offensive coordinator with Duncanville in 2022 and 2023 and is now the head coach at Lake Worth.
From 2015-21, Brewer was in the postseason six times, though they did not advance past bidistrict in any season.
The Bearcats simply don’t lost that often, but when they do they rarely lose back-to-back, even when it extends from one season to the next. Since 1994, Aledo is 41-10-2 in games following a loss.
“This shows the pride the kids have. These kids don’t like to lose, coaches don’t like to lose,” Jones said.
Gavin Beard remains day-to-day with his injury, Jones said. In the meantime, sophomore Nash McElree continues to practice as the starter.
McElree was 6-of-14 for 39 yards with two interceptions - one of which was the result of a tipped ball - last week in the 37-27 win over Lancaster. He also had a couple of key runs.
“Nash is looking good this week. He’s going to feel a little more confident,” Jones said. “We’ll have no hesitation throwing the football.”
Ray Guillory is “hungry,” he self-proclaimed after the 37-27 win in which he decimated the Lancaster defense. Following knee surgery, he had no contact for nine months.
Given that he’s averaging more than seven yards per carry, including more than 10 against Lancaster, it could be argued that he’s having little contact now. In two games he’s gained 261 yards and scored four touchdowns on 37 carries, including 15 carries for 172 yards and three TD against Lancaster - one of the fastest teams the Bearcats will face this season.
“I was depressed for a little bit, but God got me through my battles,” Guillory said of his inability to play for so long. “I couldn’t do 7-on-7 in the summer. It was frustrating, and I am excited to be playing again.
“I’m working my way back. I feel I’ve got another gear, but I’m getting there.”
The Bearcats special teams were, well, special in the win over Lancaster. Putting the season-opening performance behind them, they had a partially blocked punt that set up a touchdown, a 53-yard punt to the Lancaster 1 yard line set up a safety, a recovery of a muffed punt return sealed the game, and a long punt return set up a career-long 46-yard field goal by Cole Crawford that made it a three-possession game.
“We’ve worked on special teams a lot in practice,” Crawford said. “All praise to the coaches.”
The Bearcats replaced their entire defensive backfield after last season and the group has had to “grow up” fast against two speedy opponents.
For example, cornerback Adrian Fuller has two interceptions in the first two games.
“I think all those guys are playing pretty good,” Jones said. “Adrian, ever since he was a freshman we thought he’d be a good corner because he can run.
“Kai Taylor as well. He doesn’t have the interceptions, but there’s not been a whole lot of completions on his side.”
In fact, except for the interceptions, Fuller and Taylor’s stats mirror each other, with 5.5 tackles each (5 solo each) and two pass breakups.
A measure of success is how a team fares on third down and how the defense holds opponents on that same down. Through the first two games, the Bearcats are 9-of-24 on third down, a 38 percent conversion rate. Meanwhile, opponents are 6-23, a rate of 26 percent.
“Third downs are big. If you get a stop, you force a punt or field goal and can take away momentum,” Jones said. “You game plan third-down plays.
“You watch video and see what the defense (on the other team) likes to do in those situations.”
On fourth down the Bearcats are 4-of-7, a rate of 57%, while opponents are 1-of-3, 33%.
Three of the four Bearcats subvarsity teams remained unbeaten through two games following wins by all four squads last week.
The freshmen Black, junior varsity Black and JV Orange all improved to 2-0, while freshmen Orange evened their record at 1-1.
District 3-5A Division I once again has three teams in the state’s top 10. Ryan is No. 1 for a second straight, Aledo - No. 1 at the season’s beginning - is No. 3, and Richland rose one spot to sixth.
Nationally, Aledo is 85th in the Maxpreps rankings and Ryan is 92nd.
| District | Overall | Points for-against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azle | 0-0 | 2-0 | 92-62 |
| Richland | 0-0 | 2-0 | 81-50 |
| Denton Ryan | 0-0 | 2-0 | 70-32 |
| Aledo | 0-0 | 1-1 | 67-62 |
| Birdville | 0-0 | 1-1 | 56-84 |
| Denton | 0-0 | 1-1 | 28-55 |
| Granbury | 0-0 | 1-1 | 17-34 |
| Keller Fossil Ridge | 0-0 | 0-2 | 42-73 |
| Brewer | 0-0 | 0-2 | 27-53 |
Last week’s results
This week’s games (all at 7 p.m.)
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