On a night when players from two historic Aledo past state champion teams were honored, the current version of the Bearcats continued to look like champions in the making.
With members of the 1998 and 2013 champions in the stands - and honored at halftime - looking on, the Bearcats rolled over visiting Burleson Centennial 42-0 at Tim Buchanan Stadium on Friday, Oct. 13.
The 1998 team was the first to win one of what is now 11 state championships for Aledo - the most of any high school in the history of Texas. The 2013 squad is still the only team at any level to score more than 1,000 points in a season, outscoring their opponents 1,023-140.
“It was great to see them all show up. I can see myself and all my buddies coming back for that some day after we win our second championship,” senior safety Jake Gillespie said.
The Bearcats’ latest state championship was last season when, after an 0-2 start they reeled off 14 straight victories. With Friday’s win they now have 22 consecutive wins and 117 in a row in district dating to 2007.
“We’re carrying on their legacy, don’t want to mess up the streak,” senior running back Hawk Patrick-Daniels said.
A win against visiting Denton Ryan (5-1 overall, 4-1 in District 3-5A Division I) on Friday, Oct. 20 will give Aledo (8-0, 6-0) its 16th consecutive district championship. Centennial (5-2, 3-2) saw its hopes of a league title disappear with yet another loss to the Bearcats - their seventh in seven in meetings since the series started in 2014.
The average score in those seven meetings is 54-20.
The Bearcats wasted no time in taking control of the contest, scoring on all five of their first-half possessions to take a 35-0 break into the intermission, something the 2013 high-scoring squad would certainly be proud of.
TCU-bound senior quarterback Hauss Hejny had a hand - and feet - in all of those scores. He completed 13 of 17 passes for 213 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, while rushing six times for 57 yards and touchdowns of 40 and 6 yards.
Hejny’s scoring throws went for 34 yards to Ray Guillory, 43 yards to Trace Clarkson and 27 yards to Patrick-Daniels.
For the season, Hejny has 20 touchdowns - equaling his total through 16 games last season - and he has yet to throw an interception. He’s also completed 85 of 119 passes (71%) for 1,682 yards.
“We knew they were going to come in fired up because we beat them twice last season,” Hejny said. “We just knew we had to play our brand of football.”
As for his performance this season, Hejny said, “I’m feeling confident. It comes down to preparation and experience. I had a junior season of 16 games and it helped me continue to get better. I have a higher IQ now.”
Guillory, who returned to the lineup after missing last week’s 71-0 win at South Hills while nursing an injury, continued his stellar first season as a Bearcat. The sophomore move-in from Mansfield rushed an unofficial 11 times for 61 yards and caught a pair of passes for 38 yards and touchdown, giving him 15 TD this season.
The Bearcats’ final touchdown came in the third quarter when sophomore backup QB Gavin Beard connected with sophomore Kaydon Finley for a 5-yard score.
The Aledo defense posted its second consecutive shutout and its third in four games, shutting down Centennial’s often troublesome Flexbone triple-option offense. On the Spartans’ most serious scoring threat, a drive that reached the 11-yard line, defensive end Brody Adams had a pair of tackles for loss to squelch the threat.
Also, the Spartans were held to just 21 yards passing and the Bearcats also forced three fumbles, recovering two by linebackers Davhon Keys and Kutter Harrell.
“We just played responsible football,” said Keys, a senior who has committed to LSU next season. “We trusted the people next to us. When you have 11 guys who trust each other great things happen.”
In district play the Bearcats have outscored their opponents 331-34.
“On defense our guys were really focused,” head coach Robby Jones said. “We played these guys twice last year and our players remembered a lot from those games and it showed.”
No one on the field was happier than defensive end Carson Dempsey. The sophomore was playing in his first district and seeing his first action since the second game of the season, a 48-45 victory at Denton Guyer.
Dempsey had been out since having an emergency appendectomy. He saw a lot of action Friday, even assisting in a tackle for a loss, and said his return was a smooth one.
“It felt great. I was super rested. My body was healed,” he said. “I felt natural.”
And, of course, he was also inspired by the past champions watching.
“I wanna be like that someday, be back here celebrating our championship,” he said.
The Bearcats were 8-of-10 on third downs in the victory, something that greatly impressed head coach Robby Jones.
“Our offense overcame third-and-long several times, but that’s the sign of a good offense to overcome that,” he said.
With 5:14 remaining in the first half, Centennial starting quarterback Iverson Moore went down with an injury. He laid on the field for several minutes before paramedics brought out a stretcher.
He was strapped down securely and wheeled into an ambulance that rushed him to the hospital.
He did not return to the game. However, a report on social media later revealed that he was released from the hospital that same night.
In an interesting twist, despite the great defense by Aledo, the Spartans did not punt once. Of course, neither did the Bearcats, but then they haven’t punted much all season.
Centennial went for it on five fourth downs, converting only once. The Bearcats tried once and did not convert.
Each team also attempted a 37-yard field goal.
Centennial 0 0 0 0 - 0
Aledo 21 14 7 0 - 42
A - Hauss Hejny 40 run (Cole Crawford kick)
A - Hejny 6 run (Crawford kick)
A - Ray Guillory 34 pass from Hejny (Crawford kick)
A - Trace Clarkson 43 pass from Hejny (Crawford kick)
A - Hawk Patrick-Daniels 27 pass from Hejny (Crawford kick)
A - Kaydon Finley 5 pass from Gavin Beard (Crawford kick)
Team
First downs: Centennial 13, Aledo 18.
Rushes-yards: Centennial 46-223, Aledo 27-146.
Passing yards: Centennial 21, Aledo 273.
Caught-thrown-intercepted: Centennial 2-6-0, Aledo 16-20-0.
Fumbles-lost: Centennial 3-2, Aledo 0-0.
Punts-average: Centennial 0-0, Aledo 0-0.
Penalties-yards: Centennial 4-35, Aledo 4-30.
Third-down conversions: Centennial 5-10, Aledo 8-10.
Fourth-down conversions: Centennial 1-5, Aledo 0-1.
Rushing
Centennial: Keyshaun Tucker 16 carries, 96 yards; Kellan Gregory 7-35; Aidan Hicks 4-25.
Aledo: Ray Guillory 11-61; Hejny 6-57, 2 TD; Patrick-Daniels 3-18; Cole Plumbley 6-9; Blake Burdine 1-1.
Passing
Centennial: Iverson Moore 1-of-4, 0 interceptions, 10 yards; Cesar Beltran 1-2-0, 11 yards.
Aledo: Hejny 13-17-0, 213 yards, 3 TD; Beard 3-3-0, 60 yards, TD.
Receiving
Centennial: Damien Long 1-11, Jett Smith 1-10.
Aledo: Clarkson 4-81, TD; Patrick-Daniels 5-79, TD; Jayden Griswold 1-47; Guillory 2-38, TD; Finley 3-20, TD; Burdine 1-8.
Tackles: Davhon Keys 7.5, Boogie Owens 6.5, Chase Wilburn 4.5, Brody Adams 4.5.
Tackles for loss: Keys 2.5, Adams 2, Chris Johnson 1.
Fumble recoveries: Keys, Kutter Harrell.
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