Take pride, Aledo, for building the strongest high school football program in Texas
Sports offer so many statistics these days, they can become a blur. But in the case of Aledo High School football, the numbers define incredible achievements that a whole community can take pride in.
The big one, recorded Saturday, is a ninth state championship in just over 20 years. That’s the most of any Texas high school, ever.
Behind that lies a 91-game district winning streak, dating to 2007. For perspective, the seniors on this year’s team would have been in kindergarten when it started. They don’t know what it’s like for Aledo to lose a district game.
Aledo has won 12 straight district championships, it hasn’t missed the postseason since 1996 and has 24 straight seasons with at least one playoff win under its belt.
On Saturday, Aledo beat Fort Bend Marshall, 45-42, at AT&T Stadium for a second straight year to claim the 5A Division II championship. The effort was led by quarterback Jake Bishop and star running back Jase McClellan, who will move on to play at the highest level of college football next year at Alabama.
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It’s the third Fort Worth-area school to take a title this year, as Hill County’s Blum High won the Class 1A Division I six-man championship and Johnson County’s Grandview High triumphed in Class 3A Division I.
With three of Aledo’s championships coming in the last four years, it may seem like the school has always been a juggernaut. But that’s not the case.
After the team won its eighth championship in 2018, then-athletic director Tim Buchanan reflected on the 25-year path of Aledo football.
“When I got to Aledo in 1993, all of 17 kids were playing football,” Buchanan told the Star-Telegram. “I was the fifth or sixth head coach in four years; one stayed for only two days. So to see this program become what it is today, it’s a tribute to everyone; the people in the stands, the kids, parents, administration and community.”
Buchanan won five of those titles as head coach and, in an interesting twist, this year’s as well — he and former head coach Steve Wood swapped places this year, five years after Buchanan became AD. Clearly the change did nothing to slow the juggernaut.
Aledo, like so much of the region and the state, is growing fast. Voters approved a $150 million school district bond package this fall in anticipation of the city’s population tripling in the decades to come. So the school spirit that Buchanan described — and the victories — will help anchor the community as it changes.
Some will say the cost has been too high, that schools should focus more on academics and less on sports. And football is falling from favor somewhat as concern over brain trauma increases.
But Aledo’s success shows how the sport remains a source of strength for communities and a path to success for many who play it. The record is a testament to what a town can build when it has something to unify around. Today, all Bearcats should be proud.
This story was originally published December 21, 2019 at 2:07 PM.