Public school powerhouse hosts a private school dynamo when Dallas Parish Episcopal comes to Buchanan Stadium to face the Aledo Bearcats Friday night, Aug. 25, at 7:30 p.m.
And while Bearcat faithful are used to facing the best competition available - and being the best competition other teams can face - what is new is the man leading their charge into battle.
The game will be the debut of Robby Jones as the Bearcats’ head coach. However, he is no stranger to Aledo fans, having been with the program for 24 years.
Jones was the offensive coordinator from 2009 through last season. It was his offense that featured legendary high school running back Johnathan Gray for state championship seasons from 2009-11, in which Gray amassed 12,133 all-purpose yards (10,889 rushing) and 205 career touchdowns (70 as a senior).
Jones also engineered the most explosive offense in football at any level in a single season. The 2013 state champion Bearcats went 16-0 and became the only team ever to score over 1,000 points (1,023).
And now Jones takes the helm, replacing retired coaching legend Tim Buchanan. The last time Buchanan retired - a five-year stretch from 2014-18 - the Bearcats went 75-4 under Steve Wood, who also recently retired as athletic director.
Jones worked under both coaches and now looks to establish his own place in the record books.
The Bearcats scrimmaged Stephenville on Friday, Aug. 18 at home in preparation for this week’s season opener and Jones liked what he saw from his team.
“I think we scrimmaged well both on offense and defense,” he said. “Stephenville’s a great program, but they are a 4A school and we ought to be able to handle a 4A school - and we did.
“I think our guys were ready to see an opponent across from them who wasn’t their friend.”
Jones praised the running of transfer sophomore Ray Guillory, a move-in who led Mansfield Lake Ridge in rushing last season (769 yards, 9 TD). He was also happy to see junior wide receiver Trace Clarkson catch a couple of touchdown passes in his first action against another opponent since injuring his ACL last season.
“All in all, I am pleased with our performance,” Jones said. “It was a good measuring stick for us.”
A young Bearcats team went to Dallas last season and was defeated by the Panthers, 24-17. The Bearcats made a rally from a 24-3 deficit, but ultimately came up short.
In that contest Aledo quarterback Hauss Hejny appeared headed into the end zone for what would have been the tying/go ahead score when controversy occurred. He fumbled, but there was a question as to whether he was down before losing the ball.
“It’s a good test for us. It will show how well the kids prepared over the summer and the first two weeks (of practice),” Jones said. “We’ve got a lot more experience this year. The kids were a little more focused today. We’re getting ready to play a good opponent and you can see it in their faces.”
The Bearcats would actually lose to Denton Guyer at home the next week, 44-14, for the only 0-2 start in Buchanan’s career. Of course, everyone knows what happened after that as the team reeled off 14 straight wins en route to another state title.
Episcopal, meanwhile, would start 3-0 before losing 31-28 at home to Dallas South Oak Cliff, which won a second consecutive Class 5A Division II state championship.
The Bearcats, of course, are the defending Class 5A Division I state champions. It was their 11th state championship in program history and 10th since 2009. They have more state titles than any other public school program in the history of Texas.
The Panthers have won four consecutive Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Division I championships. They also captured a Division II title in 2014.
Between them, these programs have won 361 games over the past 15 seasons with 15 state championships. The Bearcats are 211-15 and Parish Episcopal is 150-43.
Not many teams have a victory advantage against the Bearcats, but Episcopal is one. That is a bit of a tricky statistic, however, as last season was the first time the teams had ever met.
Very few teams lead their overall series against the Bearcats. Of those who do, most games were played before the arrival of Buchanan in 1993.
“Our kids still remember that feeling of disappointment last season,” Jones said. “They didn’t feel like they played their best, and they’re ready for a better showing.”
Aledo brings a 14-game winning streak into the contest and Parish Episcopal has won nine straight.
Since Jones arrived in Aledo, the Bearcats are 18-6 in season openers. The Bearcats have not lost back-to-back season openers since the 1990-91 seasons, when they lost to Comanche both times, 13-0 and 13-7.
“We’re not going to do it again this year,” Jones said. “It’s going to be a tough game, no doubt, but we plan on winning.”
Episcopal has won five consecutive season openers.
The Bearcats enter the season ranked No. 1 in Class 5A Division I. Episcopal is the top-ranked program in TAPPS Division I.
Of course, Jones noted that it’s not uncommon for the Bearcats to play highly ranked opponents early in the season. Such teams in the past have included Baker Mayfield-led Lake Travis in 2011, along with the likes of Cedar Park, Highland Park and more.
And, of course Parish Episcopal and Denton Guyer last season and again this year.
“We’ve normally opened up against a top-ranked team or played them in our second game, so we’re used to that,” Jones said. “We know who we are. Rankings don’t matter this time of year, it’s where you are when the season’s over that we’re concerned with.”
Since 2009 Aledo has either won a state championship or had its season ended by a team that went on to win the title. The lone exception was in 2015 when they lost to Mansfield Lake Ridge in the state semifinals and Lake Ridge lost the next week to Richmond George Ranch.
In fact, of their 14 losses overall in that span, seven have been to state champions and three others to teams that reached a state final.
While not nearly as lengthy a stretch, Parish Episcopal, 46-4 in its four-year title run, lost to 5A Division II state champion Dallas South Oak Cliff last season. In 2021 their lone loss was to 4A Division I finalist Austin LBJ.
And in 2020 the only time the Panthers lost was to Fort Worth Nolan Catholic, whom they turned around and defeated in the state final.
“That means the championship goes through you,” Jones said. “If you want to be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.”
Thursday, Aug. 24
Frisco at Brewer
New Braunfels at Denton Ryan
Friday, Aug. 25
Burleson at Burleson Centennial, 7 p.m.
Frisco Rock Hill at Northwest, 7 p.m.
Boswell at Saginaw, 7 p.m.
South Hills at Dallas Molina, 7:30 p.m.
Red Oak at The Colony, 7 p.m.
Azle opens season Sept. 1 at Grapevine, 7 p.m.
Dallas Parish Episcopal Panthers (0-0) at Aledo Bearcats (0-0).
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Buchanan Stadium.
Returning starters: Parish Episcopal 8 offense/3 defense. Aledo 7 offense/5 defense.
Parish Episcopal offensive players to watch: QB Sawyer Anderson (3,208 yards, 37 TD, 7 int. passing), RB Maddux Reed (1,038 yards, 18 TD rushing; 227 yards, 1 TD receiving), WR Bryson Fields (24 catches, 566 yards, 5 TD).
Aledo offensive players to watch: QB Hauss Hejny (1,953 yards, 19 TD, 6 int. passing; 1,277 yards, 15 TD rushing, 9.5 yards per carry), WR Hawk Patrick-Daniels (moving over from RB, where he gained 1,410 yards and scored 21 TD), OL Josh McCarley (started final four games last season after all-stater Isaac Sohn, now at the University of North Texas, got injured).
Parish Episcopal defensive players to watch: DL Caleb Irving (96 tackles, 13.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks), LB Parker Meese (70 tackles).
Aledo defensive players to watch: LB Davhon Keys (102.5 tackles, 8.5 for loss, 1 int.), S Jake Gillespie (80 tackles, 7.5 for loss, 2 int.), CB Jaden Allen (41 tackles, 3 int.).
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