Crawford’s kick as time expires gives Bearcats 48-45 win over Guyer

Every athlete dreams of being called on to win the game with seconds left on the clock. To most it is just a fantasy, but for Cole Crawford it became a reality Friday night. The junior placekicker strolled out and nailed a 21-yard field goal as time expired to give the Aledo Bearcats a 48-45 victory over the 6A state-ranked Guyer Wildcats.

After a lackluster and scoreless first quarter on the part of both teams, they combined for 40 points in the second quarter. Aledo’s Hauss Hejny hit Hawk Patrick-Daniels on a 42-yard fly route for the first score of the game to open the second quarter.

The Wildcats scored on a 22-yard field goal by Ford Stinson at the 7:12 mark. After both teams exchanged possessions, Guyer’s quarterback Logan McLaughlin found Josiah Martin for a 21-yard score giving Guyer a 10-7 lead at the 4-minute mark of the second quarter.

After Aledo’s Aven Lawrence brought the kick back 32 yards, Aledo’s offense went to work. Hejny handed the ball off to sophomore Raycine Guillory and he went 35 yards for the Bearcat score and Hejny ran in the 2-point conversion giving Aledo a brief 15-10 lead late in the second quarter.

Guyer’s hurry-up offense had the Bearcats’ defense on its heels all night. Denton was able to score in just three plays as McLaughlin threw a 59-yard strike to Josiah Martin giving Guyer a 17-15 lead with less than two minutes left in the second quarter.

But Aledo also has the ability to score quickly. Henjy was starting to have one of his best games as the Bearcat offensive line was allowing him time to find his receivers.

He completed a pass to Colton McCoy for 25 yards and then he scrambled 32 yards on a second-and-10 to the Guyer’s one-yard line. Guillory was also making his presence known as he took the handoff and scored from one yard out. Hejny completed the 2-point conversion to Tyson Timms and Aledo led at halftime 23-17.

Little did anyone know that this was just the beginning of an offensive shoot out and for the next 24 minutes.

 

Jacob McIntire is in on a tackle.

Second Half

Aledo received the second-half kick and was unable to make any headway and Logan DeFranzo came in to punt for Aledo. Denton’s offense marched the ball down to the Aledo 39 and McLaughlin hit Corbin Glasco for the Guyer touchdown. What happened on the next play took a little steam out of the momentum Denton was building.

The snap came back and the holder for Guyer dropped the ball and Aledo’s Dahvon Keys picked it up and went 80 yards for an Aledo touchdown, giving Aledo a 25-23 lead with 8:45 left in the third quarter. Aledo took the kick and was moving the ball well when Hawk Patrick-Daniels fumbled the ball at the 50-yard line.

Denton’s offense did not waste any time. McLaughlin did most off his damage while he was scrambling and found Keagan Steimazewski for a Guyer touchdown. The 2- point conversion failed but Guyer took the lead at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter 29-25 after the 2-point conversion failed.

At this point the game switched to a different speed.

Aledo’s next eight of nine plays were running plays. The only pass was on a third and 15 from the Guyer 16 when Hauss hit Daniels on a 44-yard catch at the Denton 40. The Bearcats faced a third-and-goal from the two-yard-line when Keys took the handoff and scored for Aledo. The PAT was no good and Aledo lead 31-29 with less than three minutes left in the third.

Again, the Guyer hurry-up offense went to work. They were able to move the ball on the Bearcat defense and running back Sterling Schneider ran in for the 5-yard score. The 2-point conversion was good and Denton now lead 37-31 to end the third quarter.

Aledo started the fourth quarter with a 12-play 78-yard scoring drive as Guillory scored from two yards out giving Aledo a slim 38-37 lead.

Aledo’s defense was able to force Denton to punt and the Bearcats had the ball on their own 26 with less than nine minutes left in the game.

Aledo had another great 11-play, 74-yard drive when Guillory scored on a 5-yard run to give Aledo a 45-37 lead with less than five minutes left.

Denton’s quarterback Logan McLaughlin had an incredible night and threw a 64-yard touchdown to receiver Corbin Glasco. The 2-point conversion was good and the game was tied at 45 with four minutes left in the game.

The final drive for Aledo didn’t have the most ideal start. The Bearcats started at their own 8-yard line. Hejny, Keys, and Guillory were the three of the four components for Aledo’s success. The fourth was the offensive line.

Calmly, Coach Robby Jones relied on their run game to put Aledo in the position to win the game. Moving the ball from their own 8-yard line they marched to Guyer’s 3-yard line and called time out with 0:02 left on the game clock.

Enter Cole Crawford. He had missed two PATs earlier in the game and everyone was wondering if this was still on his mind — it wasn’t. The snap was good and his kick was too. Aledo avenged their 44-12 loss last year and beat Denton Guyer 48-45 for the most exciting game I’ve seen in a long time.

Hejny completed 16 of 20 passes for 252 yards and one touchdown. He also had 134 yards on 11 carries. Sophomore Ray Guillory continued to make his presence known in the district with 29 carries, 138 yards, and four touchdowns. Davhon Keys also had a rushing touchdown.

Patrick-Daniels also had three catches for 93 yards and a score. Trace Clarkson and Colton McCoy each had more than 70 yards.

Aledo hosts Justin Northwest next Friday to begin district play. Justin defeated McKinney North 31-28.

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