Someone forgot to remind the Denton Ryan Raiders they were facing what most consider to be the most successful high school football program in the history of Texas Friday night.
So the Aledo Bearcats reminded them — albeit after giving their own faithful one of the greatest scares they've had in the past decade and a half.
The Bearcats' streak of 117 consecutive district wins and 15 straight district championships was in serious jeopardy. With less than two minutes to play they trailed visiting Ryan by two points and were facing a third-down-and-11 at their own 43-yard line.
Shock and surprise turned into stunned jubilation on a single play as, suddenly, quarterback Hauss Hejny was in the open field and racing toward the end zone. Hejny, believed to be the fastest athlete in Aledo High School, was not to be caught as he scored on the 57-yard run, which was followed by a two-point conversion pass to Trace Clarkson.
The play lifted the Bearcats (9-0 overall, 7-0 in District 5-5A) to a 25-19 victory and yet another district championship and squelched any hopes Ryan (5-2, 4-2) had of making history.
"I don't even know what to think about that play. Hauss is superhuman," said Aledo running back Cole Plumbley.
The victory was also the 23rd straight for the Bearcats (9-0 overall, 7-0 in District 5-5A) dating to last season. They have a week off before traveling to White Settlement Brewer (3-5, 3-3) on Nov. 3, where they hope to wrap up a ninth 10-0 regular season since 2008.
Wide receiver Trace Clarkson said the play from offensive coordinator Joe Ryan Williams was designed so the defense would "crash" on him. He'd had two big catches in an earlier fourth-quarter drive before it ended in an interception.
When the Ryan defense did just that, it created the opening Hejny and his blockers needed to break the Raiders' hearts for a second straight season. Last season, Hejny had an 86-yard run for a touchdown that turned the game around in a 35-21 victory in Denton.
"I looked and saw everyone jump up and I knew nobody was going to catch him," Clarkson said.
As for Hejny himself, he said of the play, "That's what you prepare for all offseason. It comes out of the heartbeat of this team. The offensive line laid blocks down, the receivers laid blocks down.
"That was a great play call. We pulled something out of the bucket we haven't run in a long time. Credit to coach Williams."
While Hejny struggled throwing the ball — he was unofficially 8-of-16 for 64 yards with his first three interceptions of the season — he rushed 19 times for 164 yards, both season highs. And, of course, he did what champions do, he came up with the biggest play at the most crucial time.
"He put a dagger in them last year and he did it again," Aledo coach Robby Jones said. "We had good blocking, credit the offensive line, and our receivers take pride in their blocking.
"Once he got in the open, I knew he had a chance of scoring. He's one of the fastest players on the field."
The game was not over after Hejny's touchdown. There was still 1:35 remaining in the game and Ryan had all three of its timeouts.
However, the Aledo defense forced a pair of incomplete passes, followed by a 3-yard run, and one final incompletion that would have been a first down. Still, Ryan had all three of its timeouts, and if they could keep the Bearcats from getting a first down they could get the ball back for one final chance with close to a minute remaining.
Hejny ended those hopes when he scampered for a 12-yard run to the Ryan 17, giving Aledo a victory-clinching first down.
"We've got to trust in Hauss," said cornerback Aven Lawrence, who had a highlight of his own with a 54-yard kickoff return. "Of course we were celebrating, but the defense had to go back in and make a stop."
It wasn't the only time the Aledo defense stood out on the night. They forced two turnovers and earlier in the game stopped the Raiders on fourth-and-1 at their own 41.
After that stop the Bearcats scored on a 20-yard run by Davhon Keys to go up 17-0 midway through the second quarter.
Keys had a standout night on both sides of the ball. He also had a 3-yard touchdown run, along with an interception and fumble recovery on defense. His fumble recovery came on the first play after a 36-yard interception return by Ryan's Tyrese Weaver to end a threat late in the first half.
Special teams also played a key role with a pair of blocked extra-point kicks.
Ryan cut the score to 17-6 at the half following quarterback Braeden Mussett's 62-yard touchdown run. He would add a 20-yard touchdown run to pull the Raiders to within 17-13, finishing the game with an unofficial 157 yards on 20 carries.
Mussett's 32-yard touchdown pass to Jose Melendez gave the Raiders a 19-17 lead with 7:11 left to play. It came after the Raider defense held the Bearcats on a fourth-and-1 at Ryan's 35.
"They're talented enough to come in here and beat us if we don't play our best game - and that almost happened tonight," Jones said.
While it was scary, the bottom line was a victory. It was also a wakeup call, players and Jones agreed.
"It was definitely a wakeup call," Hejny said. "We had too many penalties (eight for 90 yards, including four 15-yarders), I've got to play better."
Hejny also noted that the Aledo starters haven't played into the fourth quarter in very many games this season. They've also not been in danger of losing since a 48-45 non-district victory at Denton Guyer in the second game of the season.
The Bearcats had outscored their first six district opponents 331-34 with three shutouts. However, Jones said Friday against Ryan proved his team is not invincible.
"They know that we can't relax. We have some very tough opponents facing us in the playoffs," he said. "Even during the bye week, we've got to get better."
Bearcats 25, Raiders 19
| Denton Ryan | 0 | 6 | 7 | 6 | - | 19 |
| Aledo | 3 | 14 | 0 | 8 | - | 25 |
A - Cole Crawford 29 FG
A - Davhon Keys 3 run (Crawford kick)
A - Keys 20 run (Crawford kick)
R - Braeden Mussett 62 run (kick blocked)
R - Mussett 20 run (Daniel Rodriguez kick)
R - Jose Melendez 32 pass from Mussett (kick blocked)
A - Hauss Hejny 57 run (Trace Clarkson pass from Hejny)
Unofficial statistics - Team
First downs: Ryan 15, Aledo 19.
Rushes-yards: Ryan 35-200, Aledo 47-293.
Passing yards: Ryan 63, Aledo 64.
Caught-thrown-intercepted: Ryan 8-20-1. Aledo 8-16-3.
Fumbles-lost: Ryan 2-1, Aledo 1-0.
Punts-avg.: Ryan 4-34.8, Aledo 2-44.5.
Penalties-yards: Ryan 6-53, Aledo 8-90.
Third-down conversions: Ryan 5-12, Aledo 5-12.
Fourth-down conversions: Ryan 0-2, Aledo 0-3.
Time of possession: Ryan 23:42, Aledo 24:18.
Rushing
Ryan: Mussett 20 carries, 157 yards, 2 TD; Nemo Warmate 11-30; Bryan Simmons 1-7; Lorenzo Hill 2-5; Tre’Vaughn Reynolds 1-1.
Aledo: Hejny 19-164, TD; Ray Guillory 21-106; Keys 5-23, 2 TD; Hawk Patrick-Daniels 2-0.
Passing
Ryan: Mussett 8-20-1, 63 yards, TD.
Aledo: Hejny 8-16-3, 64 yards.
Receiving
Ryan: Melendez 1-32, Hill 4-14, Raymond Smith 1-13, Reynolds 1-3, Simmons 1-1.
Aledo: Trace Clarkson 3-33, Tyson Timms 2-15, Kaydon Finley 2-11, Patrick-Daniels 1-5.
Interceptions
Ryan: Tyrese Weaver, returned 36 yards; Tyran Chappell, in end zone; Mun’terrius Ellis, returned 8 yards.
Aledo: Keys, no return.
Fumble recovery
Aledo: Keys.
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