GRANBURY – After they left Tim Buchanan Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4, the Aledo Bearcats had just completed the finishing touches of their 42-27 come-from-behind win over then-No. 1 Denton Ryan. The momentous win helped Aledo both reclaim the No. 1 spot in the state rankings and take a clear lead in the District 3-5A Division I standings.
In their most recent Friday Night outing, the Bearcats traveled to Granbury to take on the Pirates in their next district contest with a mission to not fall victim to the “trap game.” Following a bye week, Aledo hosts another state-ranked team with No. 10 Richland.
“The main focus during the week was to not let this be a Vanderbilt-type of game like Alabama had recently,” Aledo head coach Robby Jones said. “Alabama had the big win over Georgia, then they went to Vanderbilt, who they hadn’t lost to in 40 years, and got beat. We didn’t want to do that. I didn’t feel like Granbury would beat us, but I didn’t want to come out and be sloppy and let them hang around. The guys did a good job executing and putting up points early along with the defense getting stops early.”
The Bearcats did just that, scoring in points bunches early and often while the defense continuously suffocated the Pirates offense. Ultimately, No. 1 Aledo rolled to a convincing victory, fueled by the synergy between the offensive and defensive units, by a final score of 56-7.
“We like being good on both sides of the ball and, when we are, we have had some really good football teams,” Jones said. “We’ve had years where maybe we were really good on offense but not as good on defense or vice versa. Being able to go out, score points and shut people down will pay off for us in the long run.”
Star junior running back Raycine Guillory scored the first two touchdowns for the visiting Bearcats. The first came from 30 yards out with less than 10 minutes left in the first quarter, and his next score was a 4-yarder at the 6:35 mark of the opening period. After that, junior quarterback Gavin Beard’s arm started to sizzle.
Following a third consecutive three-and-out forced by the Aledo defense, Beard threw an 18-yard scoring pass to junior wideout Jamal Hollister with 3:06 to go in the first before tossing three more scoring passes in the second quarter. The first second-quarter touchdown pass went to star athletic junior receiver Kaydon Finley, who seemed to breeze into the end zone at half speed from 14 yards out with 10:26 left before halftime.
Then, Beard hit Burdine for the next two scores. The first pass to Burdine came after Aledo’s special teams unit recovered an onside kick and, on the very next play from scrimmage, Beard found Burdine in stride for a 32-yard score with just 12 seconds elapsed from the game clock. Later in the frame, Beard connected with Burdine for 34 yards with 3:28 remaining before halftime, which gave Aledo a 42-0 advantage at the break.
For good measure, Finley caught a 9-yard third-quarter score from Nash McElree and junior running back Kaden Winkfield scored the final Aledo touchdown with 4:18 to go in the third that stretched the lead to 56-0. Granbury found paydirt with 5:50 left in regulation on an 18-yard touchdown pass against Aledo reserves.
Beard impressed with statistics of four touchdown passes on 14-for-16 passing for 263 yards while Guillory scored two rushing touchdowns and posted 71 yards. Burdine hauled in three passes for 101 yards and two scores while Finley had seven receptions for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Hollister added four catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Now, Aledo has time to recuperate before another big district showdown as their bye week approaches. The Bearcats will take the time to heal and improve before another ranked district matchup back on their home field.
“We’re going to work on ourselves and work on some things we can get better at,” Jones said. “We will have Monday off but will work on making the Aledo Bearcats better Tuesday through Friday.”
After their bye week, the No. 1 Bearcats (6-1, 5-0) will take the field next at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, at home against Richland (6-1, 4-1), which is coming off a 44-19 road loss to No. 4 Denton Ryan.
Aledo 21 21 14 0 - 56
Granbury 0 0 0 7 - 7
A – Raycine Guillory 30 run (Cole Crawford kick), 9:30 first quarter
A – Guillory 4 run (Crawford kick), 6:35 first quarter
A – Jamal Hollister 18 pass from Gavin Beard (Crawford kick), 3:06 first quarter
A – Kaydon Finley 14 pass from Beard (Crawford kick), 10:26 second quarter
A – Blake Burdine 32 pass from Beard (Payton Shaffer kick), 10:14 second quarter
A – Burdine 34 pass from Beard (Shaffer kick), 3:28 second quarter
A – Finley 9 pass from Nash McElree (Shaffer kick), 7:42 third quarter
A – Kaden Winkfield 9 run (Shaffer kick), 4:18 third quarter
G – Anthony Debello 18 pass from Hayden Meyer (Abel Aguado-Espinosa kick)
Team statistics
First downs: Aledo 26, Granbury 8
Rushes-yards: Aledo 26-203, Granbury 26-61
Passing yards: Aledo 368, Granbury 185
Caught-thrown-intercepted: Aledo 20-23-0, Granbury 11-19-0
Punts-average: Aledo 1-35.0, Granbury 7-24.7
Fumbles-lost: Aledo 3-1, Granbury 4-1.
Penalties-yards: Aledo 3-43, Granbury 6-63.
Aledo individual leaders
Rushing: Guillory 6 carries, 71 yards, 2 TD; Winkfield 5 carries, 57 yards, TD; Brady Powell 7 carries, 52 yards.
Passing: Beard 14-of-16, 263 yards, 4 TD, 0 interceptions; Nash McElree 5-of-6, 103 yards, TD.
Receiving: Finley 7 catches, 112 yards, 2 TD; Burdine 3 catches, 101 yards, 2 TD; Hollister 4 catches, 86 yards, TD.
Tackles: Owen Henderson 4.5, Cavan Fagan 4.5, Lamel Swanson 3.5.
Tackles for loss: Ryland Haley 1, Ben McElree 1, Henderson 0.5, Cooper Cyphers 0.5.
Fumble recovery: Swanson.
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