You could look the world over and not find any more polar opposites than the Aledo Bearcats and Fort Worth South Hills Scorpions football teams.
While the Bearcats (6-0 overall, 4-0 in District 3-5A Division I) are going for a 16th consecutive district championship, the Scorpions (0-5, 0-3) are looking for a way to get on the scoreboard.
South Hills has not scored in 10 straight quarters. The Scorpions have been outscored 172-7 in three district games, including 68-0 at home by Denton Ryan on Sept. 28.
The Bearcats, meanwhile, have been clicking on both offense and defense, especially since league play began. So far Aledo has outscored its foes by a margin of 316-114, including a 60-14 victory at The Colony on Sept. 29.
Aledo coach Robby Jones noted that a dozen players have been brought up for this week’s game.
“We’ve got some backups who are going to get a chance to be starters this week,” Jones said. “We’ll see how they respond and see how the team responds.”
South Hills has lost 13 consecutive games. The Scorpions' last victory was 42-21 over Class 4A Venus in the second game of the 2022 season. Their last victory against a school of their own size was 48-12 over Fort Worth Poly in the 2021 season. It was also their lone win that season as the Scorpions are 2-23 in their past 25 games.
The last time South Hills had a winning season, the Scorpions did so in a big way. They were 10-1 in both 2016 and 2017, going 10-0 in the regular season and losing in bidistrict.
The Bearcats are 3-0 all-time against the Scorpions, who have had very little success against Aledo on both offense and defense. The Bearcats are outscoring them by an average of 65-5.
The only time the Scorpions have scored against the Bearcats was in 2013, a 77-16 loss. That was also the season the Bearcats scored more points than any team at any level in history, outscoring their opponents 1,023-140.
The Bearcats have shut out the Scorpions twice, 49-0 in 2012 and 68-0 last season.
With this week’s game being played on Thursday, that will give the Bearcats an extra day of preparation for their next opponent and a game that could go a long way in deciding the district champion.
Aledo returns home to host Burleson Centennial (5-0, 3-0) on Oct. 13.
“It’s good to have that extra day to heal up, more recovery time before we start preparation on Monday,” Jones said. “The kids will have Saturday off because Saturday work will be done on Friday.”
When the Bearcats play their next home game on Oct. 13, against Burleson Centennial, two of the most notable teams in Aledo history will be honored. The 1998 and 2013 state championship teams will be recognized.
The 1998 Bearcats brought the program the first state championship in its history, winning the Class 3A title. They finished 13-1, dropping their second game to Bridgeport, 21-14, and then reeling off a dozen straight wins.
In the state championship game, the Bearcats defeated the Cuero Gobblers 14-7.
The 2013 Bearcats made history as the most prolific offense in football history. They outscored their opponents by an average of 64-9.
The Bearcats finished 16-0 and scored more than 60 points or more nine times. This included 91, 84 (twice), 77, 76, 75, 72, 69 and 66.
In running through the postseason, Aledo outscored its foes 341-64 in six games.
In all, the Bearcats scored in almost every quarter they played that season.
Jones was not around for the 1998 title, but was the offensive coordinator in 2013.
To the surprise of no one, the Bearcats are still atop the Class 5A Division I state rankings in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football this week. They remain the lone team from their district to be ranked after Trophy Club knocked Denton Ryan out two weeks ago, but folks are keeping an eye on Burleson Centennial.
Aledo also remained fifth among all high schools in Texas, trailing only defending 6A Division I state champion Duncanville, defending 6A Division II champion DeSoto, Humble Atascocita and Houston North Shore.
On the national scale, the Bearcats surprisingly fell four spots to No. 37. Duncanville (6), North Shore (7), DeSoto (14), Austin Westlake (30), Southlake Carroll (33) and Atascocita (38) are the other Texas teams among the top 50.
Last week's results
Aledo 60, The Colony 14
Denton Ryan 68, South Hills 0
Northwest 63, Azle 7
Brewer 42, Saginaw 37
Burleson Centennial bye
Thursday, Oct. 5
Aledo vs. South Hills at Clark Stadium
Saginaw at Northwest
Friday, Oct. 6 (all games at 7 p.m.)
Centennial at Ryan
The Colony at Brewer
Azle bye
Aledo 4-0 (6-0)
Centennial 3-0 (5-0)
Ryan 3-1 (4-1)
Northwest 2-1 (4-1)
Brewer 2-1 (3-2)
The Colony 2-2 (2-4)
South Hills 0-3 (0-5)
Azle 0-4 (1-5)
Saginaw 0-4 (0-6)
Aledo Bearcats (6-0, 4-0 in District 3-5A Division I) at South Hills Scorpions (0-5, 0-3).
When/where: 7 p.m. Thursday, Clark Stadium, Fort Worth.
Returning starters: Aledo 7 offense/5 defense, South Hills 5 offense/3 defense.
Last week: Aledo won 60-14 at The Colony. South Hills lost 68-0 to Denton Ryan at home.
Last season: Aledo, 14-2, 8-0 district, 5A Division I state champions. South Hills 1-9, 0-8 in district. Aledo won 68-0 at home.
Aledo offensive players to watch: RB Kaden Winkfield (30 carries, 203 yards, 3 TD), TE Ty(10 catches, 118 yards, 1 TD), QB Gavin Beard (17-of-22, 170 yards).
Aledo defensive players to watch: S Jake Gillespie (28 tackles, 2 for loss), DE Carson Dempsey (3 sacks, 4 tackles for loss), DE Cooper Kohan (11 tackles, 6 for loss, 1 sack).
South Hills key statistic: No South Hills individual statistics available. The Scorpions have been outscored 172-7 in three district games and 250-46 overall. They have not scored 10 consecutive quarters.
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