On a night when the Chisholm Trail Rangers were making history, the Aledo Bearcats extended a historic streak of their own.
It was the Rangers’ first playoff appearance in their history since opening in 2012 - in fact, their first winning season. They finished fourth in District 4-5A Division I.
The postseason was short-lived for the Rangers (7-4), however, as the Bearcats (10-1) won a first-round playoff game for a 29th consecutive season. This came on the heels of their 17th consecutive district championship.
“This streak means a lot. Growing up here, it’s sort of expected,” senior safety Callihan Wilson said. “When we get in the playoffs it’s like we get a second wind. It’s go time.”
Senior tight end Waldron Byars said winning in the opening round - and just winning in the playoffs in general is “standard at this point.”
“A ton of great people came before us. That’s how we got here.”
Bearcats head coach Robby Jones has been with the Aledo program since 2000, becoming the offensive coordinator in 2009 and is now in his second season as head coach with a state championship and a 26-1 record.
“I’ve been here for 25 of them and it’s the result of the kids putting a lot of work in,” he said. “The best thing is them having success on the field and seeing hard work pay off in life.
“For me, I want to win every game we have a chance to play.”
The Bearcats raced to a 28-0 lead after the opening quarter and 49-0 at the half. A touchdown run of 13 yards by junior running back Raycine Guillory less than two minutes into the game got the onslaught started.
Guillory would add a second TD run of 13 yards to build the lead to 42-0 a third of the way into the second quarter. He finished with an unofficial 88 yards on just six carries, giving him over 1,100 yards and 24 TD on the season.
Guillory announced recently this will be his final season with the Bearcats as he will be graduating a year early. He has yet to announce his college commitment, but posted on X (formerly Twitter) that one is coming soon.
Junior wide receiver Kaydon Finley continued his standout season as well. He hauled in four passes for an unofficial 41 yards, including touchdowns of 19 and 13 yards from junior quarterback Gavin Beard.
Finley has caught 60 passes for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Beard had another sterling performance, completing an unofficial 13 of 15 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns, including a 32-yard score to sophomore wide receiver Bayne Martin. Despite missing two games, Beard is approaching 2,000 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and only three interceptions.
Junior running back Kaden Winkfield’s 14-yard scoring run upped the Aledo lead to 21-0 with just over two minutes left in the first stanza. A minute later sophomore cornerback Alex Patton returned an interception 52 yards for a TD.
It’s the third pick-six for the Bearcats in three games. They had two in a 77-14 win over Azle two weeks earlier from Wilburn and Kai Taylor.
“Hopefully we’ll get another one next week,” Jones said with a smile.
A few seconds after Patton’s interception score, Wilburn had one that set the Bearcats up at the Chisholm Trail 20. On the first play of the second quarter, Beard connected with Finley for their first TD.
Four minutes into the third quarter, senior wide receiver Blake Burdine took a short pitch pass from sophomore Nash McElreee, who had come in at quarterback, and raced 47 yards for a score. Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, junior wide receiver Christian Mendoza finished the Aledo scoring with a 38-yard touchdown run.
Sandwiched in between, Chisholm Trail junior running back William Quintana became the answer to a trivia question for Rangers fans. He scored on a 75-yard run to help his team avoid the shutout.
“They can build on this season,” Jones said of the Rangers. “Coach (Rickhlan) Holmes has done a good job this season and is changing things over there.”
Before Holmes’ arrival this season, the most games the Rangers had won in a season was four.
District 3-5A Division I won three of its four games against 4-5A Division I. Along with Aledo’s victory, runner-up Denton Ryan (10-1) defeated Fort Worth Paschal (7-4), third in 4-5A, 77-14.
Also, third-place Richland (9-2) won 37-16 over 4-5A second place in 4-5A Fort Worth Arlington Heights (9-2).
The lone loss between the two districts was a 41-39 victory by 4-5A champion Saginaw (11-0) over Azle (7-4), fourth in 3-5A. Azle led the game 39-28 with three minutes to go before the Rough Riders came back for their first postseason victory ever.
The Bearcats will move on to face Abilene (8-3) at a site and time still being determined during the weekend. The Eagles defeated El Paso Parkland (3-8) in their bidistrict match, 84-0.
Abilene is one of the oldest high school football programs in Texas. However, they have only played the Bearcats once, last season when Aledo defeated them 56-21 in the 5A Region I final at Tarleton State University on their way to a second straight state championship and 12th overall.
Chisholm Trail 0 0 7 0 - 7
Aledo 28 21 7 7 - 63
A - Raycine Guillory 13-yard run (Cole Crawford kick), 10:09 first quarter.
A - Bayne Martin 32-yard pass from Gavin Beard (Crawford kick), 7:06 first quarter.
A - Kaden Winkfield 14-yard run (Crawford kick), 2:24 first quarter.
A - Alex Patton 52-yard interception return (Crawford kick), 1:03 first quarter.
A - Kaydon Finley 19-yard pass from Beard (Crawford kick), 11:51 second quarter.
A - Guillory 3-yard run (Crawford kick), 7:49 second quarter.
A - Finley 13-yard pass from Beard (Crawford kick), 1:35 second quarter.
A - Blake Burdine 47-yard pass from Nash McElree (Payton Shaffer kick), 7:55 third quarter.
CT - William Quintana 75-yard run (Roman Hernandez kick), 5:27 third quarter.
A - Christian Mendoza 38-yard run (Shaffer kick), 11:20 fourth quarter.
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