The last time the Aledo Bearcats entered district play with two losses they went on a 13-game winning streak to win the 2011 Class 4A Division II state championship, their third consecutive state title.
Now, the Bearcats (0-2) find themselves in similar territory as they were playing at Justin Northwest (1-1) Thursday night at press time.
The Bearcats have dropped contests at Dallas Parish Episcopal (24-17) and at home to Denton Guyer (44-14), two of the top teams in the state. Guyer, in fact, is ranked No. 17 in the nation by MaxPreps.
Despite having yet to win a game, the Bearcats are ranked No. 25 in the state by MaxPreps. Bearcats head coach Tim Buchanan said he believes no one in District 3-5A Division I has played as challenging a schedule as his squad.
“We found some things we know we’ve got to work on that we might not have learned if we’d been playing weaker teams,” said Buchanan, who is off to an 0-2 start for the first time in his head coaching career dating to 1993 when he came to Aledo.
Other than that 1993 season, when the Bearcats were 2-8, Aledo has only lost three straight one time. That was in 2005 when they began the season 1-3, but then went on to finish 8-6 and reach the state quarterfinals.
The Bearcats have a history of bouncing back strong after a loss the magnitude of the one they experienced against Guyer. While such losses have been rare in the past almost three decades, when they have happened they’ve been followed by winning streaks.
In the 1994, 1995, and 1996 seasons, the Bearcats won four straight after a loss of 23 or more points. Then, in 2011, following a 62-35 loss to Lake Travis, they won 13 straight with a state title. In 2014, under coach Steve Wood, Aledo lost 42-7 to Bishop Amat from California, and responded with 14 consecutive wins for another state crown.
How will they respond this year?
“We’ll find out. I’m hoping as a staff we’re doing the right things to rebound from this loss,” Buchanan said.
The Bearcats were looking to extend their state-record district winning streak of 103 games against the Texans. The last time Aledo lost a league contest was in 2007 when they dropped back-to-back games to start district play against Stephenville (31-28) and Everman (35-28).
And, as they have been prone to do, the Bearcats won eight straight to reach the state quarterfinals and finish 11-3.
While folks have been pointing to the Oct. 21 game at Denton Ryan since February’s UIL realignment put them in the same district as Aledo’s biggest threat to the record streak, Buchanan has a message for them.
“They’d better be thinking about Northwest. That’s a pretty dang good team we’re going over to play,” he said.
While the Texans don’t have the pedigree of the Bearcats (but then, who does?), Northwest is a regular in the postseason and a good bet to get there again for a seventh straight year.
Northwest, coming off a 47-39 loss to McKinney North, is led by senior quarterback and Texas Tech commit Jake Strong, who has thrown for almost 500 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. He has three favorite targets in receivers Logan Jeskovic (11 catches, 153 yards, 1 TD), Kenan Reil (6-145, 3 TD) and Joseph Rivas (7-142, 1 TD).
When the Texans run the ball, they rely largely on Kyle Cummings (32 carries, 192 yards, 2 TD). Strong is also a threat on the ground with 73 yards and two TDs on 21 carries.
Defensively, the Texans feature strength at linebacker with the likes of Tyran Magee and Holden Boldie.
In the loss to Guyer, however, the Bearcats found their newest tailback it seems. Hawk Patrick-Daniels rushed for 129 yards on 23 carries.
“That was the biggest positive,” Buchanan said, adding, “And (Kaydon) Finley can block. On defense, Bryon Wheeler has shown he’s as good a D tackle as we’ve had in a while, the (Ky) Howington kid (team-leading 16 tackles, 1 interception this season) is a good linebacker, and and Boogie Owens is a good free safety.”
Through two games the Texans have yet to cough up the football on a turnover. Meanwhile, they have six takeaways (five fumble recoveries, one interception).
The Bearcats, meanwhile have turned the ball over four times (2 fumbles, two interceptions. On defense, they have two interceptions.
While the Bearcats are expecting to see the return of Cap Mooney at running back (18 carries, 62 yards against Parish Episcopal) and linebacker (eight tackles) after missing the Guyer game, they suffered another blow. Center Alex Arana will miss perhaps as much as four weeks, Buchanan said.
“Guyer beat us up. We looked like a M.A.S.H. unit,” Buchanan said.
The Bearcats lead the all-time series with the Texans 9-6-1 and have won the past four meetings by a combined score of 161-43. The last meeting between the teams was in 2017, when Wood’s Bearcats won 48-0, the largest margin of victory in the series, besting the previous largest of 61-27 the year before.
Buchanan has faced Northwest twice as a head coach, but this will be the first time in almost two decades. In 2002 his Bearcats won 21-6, followed by a 31-10 win in 2003.
Aledo Bearcats (0-2) at Justin Northwest Texans (1-1)
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8
Aledo offensive leaders: RB Hawk Patrick-Daniels, 24 carries, 132 yards rushing, three catches, 14 yards receiving; QB Hauss Hejny, 20-113 rushing, 13-30, 239 yards, 1 TD, 2 int. Passing; RB Cap Mooney, 18-62 rushing; WR Jalen Pope, 9-184, 1 TD; TE/WR Tyson Timms, 3-44.
Northwest offensive leaders: QB Jake Strong, 21-73, 2 TD rushing, 30-54, 494 yards, 5 TD, 2 int. Passing; RB Kyle Cummings, 32-192, 2 TD; WR Logan Jeskevic, 11-153, 1 TD; WR Kenan Reil, 6-145, 3 TD; WR Joseph Rivas, 7-142, 1 TD.
Aledo defensive leaders: LB Ky Howington, 16 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 int.; LB Dahvon Keys, 12 tackles; CB Chris Johnson, 10 tackles, 1 interception (returned 52 yards); S Jake Gillespie, 10 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 int.; DB Andrew Parkhurst, 10 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack.
Northwest defensive leaders: LB Holden Boldie, 1 int. (returned 38 yards); LB Tyran Magee.
Team rushing per game: Aledo, 151.5; Northwest, 182.0.
Team passing per game: Aledo, 134.0; Northwest, 272.0.
Rushing yards surrendered per game: Aledo, 75.0; Northwest, 111.5.
Passing yards surrendered per game: Aledo, 303.0; Northwest, 117.0.
Turnovers: Aledo, 4 (2 fumbles, 2 interceptions); Northwest, 0.
Takeaways: Aledo, 2 (int.); Northwest, 6 (5 fumbles, 1 int.).
Notable: The last time Aledo lost three straight to open a season was in 1990, when they started 0-4 en route to a 1-9 record. Northwest has started 1-2 in three of the past four seasons, except 2019, when they began 0-4.
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