Coming off of the bye week, Aledo is 2-3 overall and 1-1 in district play and will face the Arlington Bowie Volunteers on Friday, Oct. 9, at home.
The Bearcats’ last game saw their 136-game win streak in district play end with a 35-21 loss to the Arlington Martin Warriors. Aledo quarterback Tre Williams threw for two touchdowns and running back Wyatt Dorsey rushed for 217 yards and one touchdown.
Through five games, Williams has thrown for 847 passing yards, nine touchdowns, with three interceptions. Aledo has multiple contributions in the run game so far on the season, with Dorsey rushing for 454 yards and five touchdowns on 50 carries and fellow running back Izzy Roberts rushing for 267 yards and three touchdowns on 61 carries. Wide receiver Kane Lanier and tight ends Colby Thompson and Caden Palmquest have combined for 47 receptions, 674 yards, and nine touchdowns.
Defensively, Aledo has forced eight takeaways as a unit. Outside linebacker Cole Cox leads the Bearcats in tackles with 42, and edge rusher Max Forman has a team-high three sacks. Cornerback Jordan Hall is the team leader in interceptions with two.
Arlington Bowie is 3-2 overall and 2-0 in district, with district wins over Arlington Lamar and Granbury. The Volunteers are led by head coach Joseph Sam and an offense that’s scored 27 points per game through five games. On defense, the Volunteers have forced five turnovers and have blocked four field goals.
Arlington Bowie quarterback Mason Nichols has thrown for 1,103 passing yards, five touchdowns, and seven interceptions this season. Wide receivers Maxwell Nichols and AJ Birdow have led the Volunteers in receiving with 364 and 362 yards, respectively. Both receivers have caught one touchdown. Running backs Laquentis Jones Jr. and Zaeden Smith have combined for 591 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
Aledo head coach Robby Jones elaborated on what the Bearcats’ defense will need to do in order to stop the Volunteers’ offense.
“First, we must stop their run game,” Jones said. “If we can do that, we’re taking away what they like to do. If we can stop the run game early it will help us get pressure on their quarterback.”
On the defensive side for the Volunteers, linebacker Darryl Nash leads the team in total tackles with 45, averaging nine tackles per game. Free safety Kaleb Phifer falls just behind him with 42 and an average of 8.4 per game. Linebacker Don Rivas has been proficient in the pass rush, leading the Volunteers with 2.5 sacks. The Volunteers’ defensive line has combined for 6.5 total sacks all season.
Jones emphasized wanting to see his offense win the turnover battle and make key decisions against the Volunteers’ defense.
“First and foremost, we must take care of the football and not have any turnovers,” Jones said. “We must establish the run early and then make good decisions in the RPO (run-pass option) game so that we can distribute the ball to our playmakers.”
While Aledo has had an unusual start to the season, Jones wants his players to put the past behind them and focus on the future.
“The message has been to put the first five weeks behind us and focus on going 5-0 the last five weeks of the season,” Jones said. “We have had a lot of bad things happen to us during the first five games, and we need to start making plays and make good things happen instead of worrying about something bad happening.”
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