As he prepares for his second season as head coach, Aledo's Robby Jones liked what he saw during spring workouts as the Bearcats start the reloading process.
In places like Aledo - well, actually, there is no place like Aledo in Texas since the Bearcats have a dozen state championships, more than any other program in the state - the old cliche' "they don't rebuild, they reload" applies.
In fact, the Bearcats are coming off back-to-back championships. In his debut season at the helm, Jones led the squad to a 16-0 record after being a part of 10 others as offensive coordinator since 2009.
"I think we made a lot of improvements throughout the spring on both sides of the ball," Jones said. "The defense is a little ahead of the offense right now, but when you don’t have your starting running back (junior Raycine Guillory) and only returning starting offensive linemen (junior Payton Williams), that is to be expected. We will be a lot better in the fall when those two guys are back to 100 percent."
Both Guillory and Williams are recovering from injuries. Despite missing several games last season, including almost the entire last half of the postseason, Guillory accounted for almost 1,400 yards and 21 touchdowns.
"Ray was not able to participate in spring drills. We had to hold him back at times because he wanted to be out on the field with his teammates," Jones said. "We just must be smart with his rehab and get all the strength back in his leg before we put him back on the field."
Jones said the focus on the defensive side of the ball is replacing the entire secondary, with all four starters signing NCAA Division 1 college scholarships and the top backup signing a NCAA Division 2 scholarship. This includes State Championship Game MVP Davhon Keys, who is now with LSU.
"We are still trying to figure out the best combination in the secondary going into the summer months, but we feel pretty good about the guys that we have," Jones said.
On offense the focus is rebuilding the line, with only one returning starter back (Williams) and he got injured the second week of spring.
"It left us very experienced up front. We saw a lot of improvement by those guys as a unit as the spring went on, and we fully expect to have a good offensive line when we get going in the fall," Jones said.
Other key losses on the offense include now graduated QB Hauss Hejny, the 2022 State Championship Game Offensive MVP and 2023 State Championship Offensive MVP Hawk Patrick-Daniels. Hejny is now with TCU and Patrick-Daniels signed to play for Tyler Junior College.
Gavin Beard is the heir apparent to Hejny. In limited action last season the sophomore completed 45 of 62 passes (73%) for 517 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
"Gavin showed that he is a more than capable QB. The coaching staff knew going into spring that Gavin has a chance to be a really good QB for us, and I think he showed that throughout the spring," Jones said.
"The major competition is in the two areas that we focused a lot of attention on this spring, the defensive secondary and offensive line. There is still competition going on to decide who the starts are going to be in some of those positions," Jones continued. "We also have a lot of competition at the wide receiver and tight end positions. There are several players that can fill different roles for us in those positions."
Jones added that junior Kayden Finley, who has seen action at tight end and wide receiver the past two seasons, is expected to get the ball even more in 2024 after catching 39 passes for 602 yards and six touchdowns in 2023.
Jones said the defensive line is the strength of the team right now with a lot of returning players.
"Carson Dempsey (junior) and Cooper Cyphers (junior) are going to be two of the best defensive end duos in the state," Jones said. "Then we have four defensive tackles in Decker Sander (junior), Talan Forman (senior), Jaxon Richter (senior) and Tymon Meeks (sophomore) that we are going to rotate, that are as good as anyone out there.
"Linebacker Ben McElree (senior) should provide some leadership on the defense as a returning starter and will also see time at running back this fall."
Jones also noted there is a lot of talent from the JV progam whom he expected to be strong contributors in the coming season.
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