Notably, the Bearcats were explosive with their offensive passing game. Overall, Aledo amassed 324 yards through the air with most of the production coming from junior Nash McElree, who finished 13-for-16 with 249 passing yards and four touchdowns against one interception.
“We’re still going to work both of those guys at quarterback [McElree and Lincoln Tubbs],” Bearcats head coach Robby Jones said. “How much time each one gets is going to depend on how the game flow is going. Tonight, the game flow was going pretty good, I believe, when Nash was at quarterback. But then, when Lincoln was in there, we were equally as good. So, we got to keep using both of them. They both provide us with opportunities to move the football, and that’s the key is moving the football and putting points on the board.”
The chemistry of Aledo’s current dual-quarterback system showed new strengths and facets such as more pop passes, rotating series and reading the field with increasing accuracy. Additionally, both players have shown their skills with their legs and positional versatility as well.
“We’re always watching film together, taking reps at quarterback and sometimes he’s the receiver. And, you know, we’re friends on and off the field, so we just have a good connection,” McElree said of Tubbs. “We’ve got a connection and I love playing with him, he loves playing with me.”
Aledo moved the ball down the field at will and collected chunk plays in bunches as they took a commanding 21-0 lead in the first quarter. The first score came off a short run by senior Kaden Winkfield, whose scoring plunge was set up by an earlier 45-yard scramble from McElree. The second touchdown drive began a pattern, an emphasis, and a statement all in one: throwing the ball through the air with success and efficiency.
“That’s what we wanted to see out of the passing game tonight was just getting the ball out to our playmakers and letting them go make plays,” Jones said. “We had several guys get a lot of catches tonight – I don’t know the stats or keep up with all of that – but I just know we were moving the football a lot better than what we’ve done in the past two weeks.”
Following the opening score, the Bearcats defense quickly ushered Brewer’s offense off the field to set up Aledo’s second scoring drive. The drive began at the Aledo 53 with 9:23 left and began to stall out near the red zone with less than seven minutes. Facing 4th-and-5 from the Brewer 24, McElree evaded the rush and found Kaydon Finley running strong across the middle. Finley then ripped away from his defender and bolted untouched into the end zone for a 14-0 lead with 6:28 to go.
Finley was just getting warmed up, though.
The standout senior and Notre Dame commit hauled in five passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns. His second score was a 40-yarder that came with 42 ticks before halftime. Along with his large statline and NFL pedigree in his bloodline, Finley showcased his strength after the catch and competitiveness at the point of attack both in pass catching and as a blocker.
“It feels great, especially coming off last year’s season – had a pretty good season last year,” Finley said. “Just trying to improve this year, but it felt like a big confidence booster for me and the offense overall. It was a great team win, and I’m thankful for all these guys. It was just great to be back on the field and do my things.”
Finley shined brightly, but he was not alone. Junior wideout Bayne Martin made his presence known with a 24-yard, first-quarter touchdown snag as did Tubbs, who caught a 13-yarder. The duo combined for 77 receiving yards while senior Jamal Hollister produced 60 receiving yards.
“The whole week we were just working on staying at full speed and tempo at practice, and I think that just translated over to the game,” McElree said. “We watched a bunch of film on their defense, so we knew what they were doing pretty much every time we were out there and knew the attack zones – we were just on point today.”
The ball distribution was strong as Aledo quarterbacks completed passes to eight different receivers with a nearly 87-percent completion percentage, and the overall execution and ball handling was clean with touchdowns against one interception.
“They’re doing better. We’re getting up to the state of play we should be playing at,” Finley said. “I have a lot of trust in the quarterbacks. We built that trust over the past few weeks. They have a lot of trust in the receivers also, so it’s good just to have a game where we’re on the same page. We can carry that on, carry the momentum into the rest of the season and into the playoffs. And, you know, hopefully we will win number 13.”
The championship-level defense could be a catalyst in the possibly of capturing a 13th crown, and the defense flexed its muscles once again with another suffocating performance. Senior defensive lineman Cooper Cyphers was particularly disruptive against the beefy Bears offensive line. Cyphers recorded a sack in the end zone for a safety early in the second quarter, had four tackles, two quarterback hurries, and two tackles for a loss. His force also paved the way for plenty of playmaking as the Bearcats recorded two sacks, six tackles for a loss, and seven passes defended throughout the contest. Additionally, the defense kept the Brewer offense out of the red zone the entire contest until the late score against reserve defenders.
“I really like what the defense is doing. The first-team defense shut them out and, you know, they got the late trash touchdown on our backups,” Jones said. “What I didn’t like was some of the penalties that we were getting. Some of them were kind of touchy, but we don’t need to have unsportsmanlike penalties. That is not characteristic of us, and we’re going to address that tomorrow morning.”
Jones expects to corral the competitive emotions of the team moving forward, and the team is eager to improve further, even after the dominant performance they put together against the formerly unbeaten Bears.
“We’ve just got to get better at what we do, and that’s the main focus,” Jones said. “We are going to look within and see what we can do better. We can get better on the offensive line, we can get better out at receiver and I know we’ve missed a few blocks out wide and also had some defensive busts. We need to make sure we’re not busting things. We had one play where we had a receiver get blown up and his buddy’s supposed to be blocking for him out wide but didn’t. We’ve got to take care of the little things and make sure that everybody’s doing their job on every play.”
The players are on the same page as their coaching staff with their sights set on the long term prize through dedication to the day-to-day preparation.
“I’m definitely improving week by week, the team is improving week by week – it’s just been how we’ve practiced,” McElree said. “We had one of our best practice weeks we’ve had this whole year, and I think that’s how we were playing so fast and physically today while scoring a bunch of points.”
McElree showed some of that improved decision making with two big scrambles he reeled off against the Brewer defense. McElree finished with 66 rushing yards on three carries while Winkfield was the lead rusher with another steady performance for Aledo. He finished the night with 11 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown. Aledo rushed for 237 yards as a team.
Tubbs produced on the ground, through the air, and as a receiver. He had three carries for 33 yards, three receptions for 31 yards and a score, and completed all three of his pass attempts for 30 yards and a score. Jordan Hall stood out in the secondary with a tackle and three pass breakups while senior kicker Peyton Shaffer nailed all five of his extra point attempts along with a 28-yard field goal.
The Bearcats (3-0, 1-0) will take the field again for another district contest at 7 p.m. Friday at Birdville.
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