Following an unusual 26-0 shutout loss to North Crowley in Week 1, the Aledo Bearcats aimed to bounce back with a win over Waco Midway in the home opener.
That didn’t happen, as the Bearcats fell to the Panthers, 28-21.
Aledo hasn’t started 0-2 since 2022. That season, they rattled off 14 straight wins en route to a state championship.
Things started off shakily Friday night for the Bearcats, as they surrendered a 41-yard touchdown pass from Midway’s Cort Strickland to Jacoby Hamilton early in the first quarter.
Afterward, Aledo’s Jordan Hall took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown, but it was called off due to a penalty.
Midway running back and Notre Dame commit Lathan Whisenton increased the Panthers’ lead to 14-0 with 4 minutes in the first quarter with a 45-yard rushing touchdown. Aledo answered back with a 23-yard rushing touchdown by Wyatt Dorsey, but then gave up another receiving touchdown when Hamilton caught a 22-yard pass.
After going down two scores, the Bearcats struck back with a Maddox Nurse touchdown reception with 17 seconds left in the first half to cut the deficit to 21-14.
The second half saw Aledo start to pick momentum back up. On Midway’s first drive, they reached Aledo’s 5 yard line, but the Bearcats forced a fumble at the 2 to prevent the deficit from getting larger. The ensuing drive saw a three-and-out, but on the next offensive drive, running back Izzy Roberts broke off a 70-yard run to get the Bearcats in the red zone with a chance to tie it.
However, that drive eventually stalled, and Aledo’s fourth quarter began with a missed 30-yard field goal that doinked off the right upright.
Aledo’s defense still kept it in the game, with the following drive seeing a forced fumble deep in Midway’s territory. Afterward, Roberts punched it in to tie the game at 21.
The following Midway drive initially resulted in a three-and-out, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Bearcats extended the drive. The drive ended in a Whisenton touchdown that put Midway in the lead for good.
At the two minute warning, Aledo had one final chance to tie the game. The Bearcats moved the ball down the field in a hurry, but then turned the ball over on downs deep in Panther territory to close out the game.
“We’ve gotta take advantage of our opportunities,” Aledo head coach Robby Jones said. “We missed a field goal; we had a kickoff return for a touchdown called back; we had an unsportsmanlike on fourth and long that led to their game-winning touchdown. We’ve gotta not do things to hurt ourselves.”
The players seem to understand that.
“This is a good team,” running back Izzy Roberts of Waco Midway. “We’re a good team. We’ve just gotta keep getting better. We’ve just gotta practice and be ready to work every day.”
Tight end Caden Palmquest lamented what happened during the loss.
“We’ve gotta focus up,” Palmquest said. “We were thinking we did something when we scored that last [first half] touchdown. We didn’t. We were still down a touchdown. We’ve gotta come into that second half meaning something.”
The Bearcats will take on the Euless Trinity Trojans on the road next week.
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