When the season began, to the surprise of no one the Aledo Bearcats were picked to challenge for the District 3-5A Division I championship and reach the postseason for a 29th straight season. One more win and they will lock up a 17th straight district championship dating to 2008.
That win would come on the road at Azle, an opponent many thought would be finishing out its season. The Hornets were picked eighth in the nine-team league, ahead of only Granbury.
However, Azle (7-1 overall) sits 5-1 in district and is just a game behind the Bearcats (7-1, 6-0). And while the Hornets are indeed big underdogs in the contest, they have proved critics wrong with their performance in 2024. They are off to their best start in many years and looking at their first playoff berth since 2021.
“They are a much improved football team from last year,” Bearcats coach Robby Jones said. “Coach (Devon) Dorris and his staff do a great job of building back after a down season or two and they’re doing it again.”
The Hornets were 3-7 in each of the previous two seasons.
The Hornets returned 10 starters on offense and six on defense, prompting several to wonder why they were picked so low in the league.
“I didn’t have them that low,” Jones said. “I guess people were looking at their past couple of seasons, but that’s a talented team that’s well coached.”
The Bearcats survived upset-minded Richland 49-42 in overtime this past Friday at Tim Buchanan Stadium, extending their national-record district winning streak to 125 games. Jones had both a strong message and a congratulatory one for his team.
“We said we were lucky to come back. I told them great job for coming back and continuing to fight, great job for coming up with a way to win,” Jones said. “But we’re making sure this week we’re ready to go play. Practice has picked up, practices have more intensity.”
Richland twice had two-touchdown leads, along with scoring late to force overtime.
“It’s kind of a wakeup call. You’ve got to be ready for every game, be ready for each and every week,” Jones said.
District 3-5A’s tiebreaking procedure works off of positive points, then head-to-head competition. If Aledo wins Friday it’s a moot point as far as the Bearcats are concerned and they will have secured yet another league championship.
However, an Azle upset throws it all into a tizzy. Aledo, Azle and Denton Ryan would be tied with Richland a game behind. Aledo has defeated both Ryan (42-27) and Richland (49-42 in overtime) at home, Azle lost at home to Ryan 62-26 and will end the regular season at Richland on Nov. 8. Ryan also has a 44-19 home win over Richland.
Ryan has outscored opponents in this equation by plus 61 points, Aledo is plus 22 so far, while Azle and Richland are at zero. There are no negative points in the tiebreaking procedure.
For a four-way tie to occur, Azle would have to defeat Aledo and lose to Richland, while Ryan would have to split its final two games with Brewer and Birdville, and Aledo would have to also lose at home to Denton.
Several players on both teams have milestones within reach in this game or by the end of the regular season.
For Aledo, junior running back Raycine Guillory needs just 21 rushing yards to reach 1,000 and junior wide receiver Kaydon Finley will reach 1,000 yards with 134 more.
Azle junior quarterback Derrek Vowell needs 178 yards to reach 2,000 and senior running back Hagen Hughes is 151 yards short of 1,500.
Both teams feature first-year starting quarterbacks who have enjoyed great success.
Aledo junior Gavin Beard is completing 63% of his passes for 1,237 yards with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions in six games. He missed two games early in the season with an injury.
Vowell is completing 65% of his throws for 1,822 yards with four interceptions.
Through eight games the Hornets have forced 15 turnovers (4 interceptions, 11 fumbles), while giving the ball up seven times (4 interceptions, 3 fumbles).
The Bearcats have taken the ball away 10 times (5 interceptions, 5 fumbles) and given it up nine times (5 interceptions, 4 fumbles).
While both the Bearcats and Hornets know they are headed for the playoffs, who they will meet in bidistrict is up in the air. Saginaw is in the driver’s seat of District 4-5A Division I, with Arlington Heights and Paschal right behind with one loss and Chisholm Trail having two defeats.
Aledo leads the all-time series by a 13-2 margin and has won the past nine meetings, including 50-7 last season. The last Hornets victory was 19-6 in 2001, 43 years after their first win of 19-7 in 1948.
The teams first met in 1946, a thrilling 7-6 Aledo victory.
The Aledo subvarsity teams once again swept to victory four times, all against Richland. Freshmen A won 35-7 and B won 26-8. Junior varsity A won 42-17 and B won 35-0.
The Bearcats remained the No. 1 team in the state in Class 5A Division I this week, while Ryan moved up to No. 3. The Raiders held the No. 1 spot before falling at Aledo.
Richland remained No. 10 despite their loss at Aledo last week.
Nationally, the Bearcats moved up one spot to No. 77.
District Overall Points for-against
Y-Aledo 6-0 7-1 397-141
Azle 5-1 7-1 342-259
Denton Ryan 5-1 7-1 377-156
Richland 5-2 7-2 426-226
Brewer 3-3 3-5 269-259
Birdville 2-4 3-5 218-346
Keller Fossil Ridge 2-5 2-7 185-376
Denton 0-6 1-7 122-357
Granbury 0-6 1-7 112-290
Y = Clinched playoff berth
Aledo 49, Richland 42 (OT)
Ryan 55, Denton 14
Brewer 17, Fossil Ridge 7
Azle 28, Granbury 14
Birdville bye
Friday, Nov. 1
Aledo at Azle
Fossil Ridge at Birdville
Granbury at Denton
Ryan at Brewer
Richland bye
Aledo (7-1, 6-0 in District 3-5A Division I) at Azle Hornets (7-1, 5-1).
When: 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, Hornet Stadium, Azle.
Last week: Aledo defeated Richland 49-42 in overtime. Azle defeated Granbury 28-14.
Last season: Aledo went 16-0 and won Class 5A Division I state championship. Azle was 3-7 and missed the playoffs.
All-time series: Aledo leads 13-2.
Returning starters: Aledo 3 offensive, 4 defensive. Azle 10 offensive/6 defensive.
Aledo offensive players to watch: WR Blake Burdine (21 catches, 354 yards, 5 TD), TE Waldron Byars (7 catches, 48 yards).
Azle offensive players to watch: QB Derrek Vowell (65% completions, 1,822 yards, 18 TD, 4 interceptions), RB Hagen Hughes (1,349 yards, 9.1 yards per carry, 18 TD, 6 catches, 106 yards).
Aledo defensive players to watch: S Kamron Hall (24 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 interception), DT Tymon Meeks (17 tackles, 3 for loss, 0.5 sacks).
Azle defensive players to watch: DB Riley Self (interception returned for TD), ATH Cayden Lawson (interception returned for TD).
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