“I think they’re pretty self-motivated at this point. You’re into the part of the season where the season has gotten old and tired – we can’t fall for that,” Bearcats head coach Robby Jones said. “We’ve got to be excited about coming to practice and, with it being Ryan next week, they’re really excited about this game. We’ve just got to get on the board quickly, and that’s the goal every week. Then, we need to continue to build on that throughout the contest. We were able to handle the comeback last time, but we don’t want to have to come back. I’d like us to get out in front and stay out in front, so it’s going to be very important we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”
A fast start by the Bearcats will be key, as Aledo won the teams’ regular season matchup 15-14 in Denton, but needed a 12-point, second-half comeback to secure the victory. There is plenty of chippiness and intensity within this caliber of matchup, and early miscues and penalties will be paramount to avoid.
“We’ve talked about it all year, not letting our emotions overtake what we do in our actions,” Jones said. “We want to play with class and we want to play with respect to our opponent, but at the same time, we’ve got to go out there and get after them.”
Through their first three postseason games, including last week’s win over Arlington Heights, Aledo has outscored its opponents 177-12 and have outgained said foes (Saginaw, Amarillo Tascosa and Arlington Heights) 1,237-475. An impressive start to the postseason is an understatement for Aledo.
“We had our first three playoff opponents outmatched, so no surprise with the score differential, but now you’re getting to the point of the season where every game’s going to be a tough battle,” Jones said. “That’s what we’re expecting this week. Of course, this is the sixth time that we’ve played Ryan in the last four years, so we’re very familiar with them and they’re familiar with us. It’s kind of grown into kind of a rivalry to where, you know, there’s going to be a lot of chippiness in this game, and that was one of the things we talked about Saturday morning was not letting our emotions get the better of us. We’ve got to stay calm and take care of business.”
While Aledo has drastically improved its offense during the season, Jones is cognizant of the improvements made by Ryan, and star skill player Treyveon Henderson and the defensive line are two areas Aledo is locked in on.
“We’re a very different team offensively, for sure, we’re pretty much the same defensively,” Jones said. “But, they (Ryan) have changed as well. They’re doing a lot better job of throwing the football, which is something that they didn’t do really well when we played them the first time. They’ve made improvements, we’ve made improvements – we’ve just got to see who’s made the most improvements.”
The Bearcats (13-0, 8-0) and Raiders (12-1, 7-1) will square off for the Class 5A, Division I Region I title at 7 p.m. Friday at Justin Northwest ISD Stadium.
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