“We looked forward to playing them again. We felt like we didn’t give them our best game the first time, so it was good to go out and play the way we did,” Aledo head coach Robby Jones said. “I thought we probably played the best game – the first half at least – we’ve played all year, so that was satisfying. It’s going to take another effort like that to be able to come out on top again.”
Jones is correct in his assessment as Aledo (14-0, 8-0) faces another daunting task in another strong opponent lined up across from them in the No. 3 Frisco Lone Star Rangers, who won Region II following a 58-38 victory over No. 5 Highland Park. The Rangers have showcased a similar level of dominance as Aledo, winning their 14 games by an average margin of more than 30 points per contest. The Bearcats have posted an average margin of victory of nearly 45 points per game.
“They are probably the best offensive team we’ve seen all year. They have Division I athletes all over the field, and it’s going to be a challenge defensively, too,” Jones said. “One thing we will have to make sure we take advantage of is winning in the trenches on both sides of the ball, because they do have good athletes out wide and a sophomore quarterback that is going to be a highly-recruited Division I athlete – he’s also supposedly a really good basketball player. It’s not going to be an easy game.”
Trey Wright leads the Rangers offense with 33 passing touchdowns while averaging 96.8 yards on the ground per contest to go with his total of 10 rushing scores. Overall, Wright has produced nearly 4,000 yards of offense while senior defensive linemen Marcel Dominguez (19.5) and Christopher Knauls (13) have combined for more than 32 sacks to add firepower to a talented defense. Despite that, Aledo enters this matchup with confidence, especially considering the performance they displayed in their 26-point win over Denton Ryan.
“The offensive line did a great job last week against Ryan, who had what was considered to be one of if not the best defensive lines in the state of Texas,” Jones said. “Now, I would take our defensive line over theirs, but all the experts saying their defensive line was the best in the state in Class 5A – I feel like our offensive line did a great job of handling those guys. The proof was in the results at the end of the game.”
Aledo’s defense surrendered a season-high 17 points last week and will need its stingiest effort to slow down a Lone Star offense that has averaged more than 443 yards and 44.5 points per game.
“We’re going to have to limit their big plays,” Jones said. “I don’t know if we can say we’re going to take away all their big plays because they have consistently had multiple big plays in games, whether it be throwing the football down the field or running the ball. We need to make sure that we limit the number of big plays they have, because they’re going to get a couple, but we can’t just let them have it – can’t let them get into a rhythm.”
The Bearcats and Rangers will compete in the state semifinals and for a spot in the Class 5A Division I state championship game at 7 p.m. Friday at Vernon Newsome Stadium in Mansfield.
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