Aledo edges Lubbock-Cooper to reach state title game for 9th time in 11 seasons

If Saturday’s game at Wildcat Stadium were the state championship rather than a state semifinal, Aledo and Lubbock-Cooper would have gone to overtime.

But because instant replay was unavailable, the ruling of Jase McClellan being down by contact before fumbling and Lubbock-Cooper recovering the ball stood.

McClellan scored his third touchdown of the game on the next play with 1:55 remaining, and the Bearcats held on for a 28-21 win over the Pirates.

“He wasn’t down,” Aledo coach Tim Buchanan said before correcting himself. “He was down. It worked out just perfect because we didn’t give them the time to drive down the field, running the football on us. Our defense finally stopped them at the end.”

Lubbock-Cooper coach Chip Darden said he didn’t get an explanation of why McClellan was ruled down.

“We didn’t (get an explanation), but that’s life, and that’s what we told the kids,” he said. “Sometimes it goes your way, and sometimes it doesn’t. You’ve got to tip your cap to them, and that’s why they’ve found a way to win seven of the last 10 (titles).”

Aledo advances to face Fort Bend Marshall in a rematch of last year’s Class 5A Division II state championship game, as the Bearcats go for their ninth title, which would be a UIL record.

Aledo (14-1) and Marshall will play 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at AT&T Stadium. It’s the Bearcats’ fourth consecutive trip to the state title game and their ninth in the past 11 years.

“There’s nothing like it,” Buchanan said of making the championship game.

Jake Bishop accounted for 232 yards, and McClellan ran for 89 yards and three scores in the win. Aledo held Lubbock-Cooper running back Isaiah Johnson, a North Texas commit, to 126 yards on 21 carries.

McClellan, who has committed to Oklahoma, capped off an eight-play drive to open the game with a 3-yard touchdown run. The drive took just 2:54 off the clock, but a missed extra point kept Aledo’s lead at 6-0.

After forcing a three-and-out on defense, the Bearcats took over at the Pirates’ 49.

Aledo was forced to punt and pinned Lubbock-Cooper at its own 8 to start the drive. Johnson capped an 11-play drive in response with a 1-yard plunge on the first play of the second quarter to put the Pirates up 7-6.

Bishop had completions of 37 and 19 yards to Money Parks and Jaedon Pellegrino, respectively, before McClellan scored from 1 yard out for a 13-7 lead.

The Bearcats had a shot to extend their lead before halftime, but were stopped on a fourth-and-8 play, 1 yard shy of the first-down marker. The Aledo defense then stopped Lubbock-Cooper’s drive at the Bearcats’ 45 to end the half.

Lubbock-Cooper (13-2) quarterback Cooper LaFebre executed a perfect play-action fake and went on a 40-yard run up the middle to open the second half and put the Pirates back on top 14-13.

Aledo was stopped on downs and then forced a Pirates three-and-out.

Bishop scored on a keeper around the left end four plays later. A two-point conversion pass to Jo Jo Earle put the Bearcats up 21-14 with just over a minute to play in the third quarter.

Lubbock-Cooper tied the game with just over five minutes to play at the end of a 14-play drive that ate nearly eight minutes off the clock and ended with Johnson’s second touchdown. The Pirates briefly considered going for a two-point conversion and the lead with 5:35 to play.

“We didn’t come just to play with them; we came to win it,” said Darden. “We just thought with 5 1/2 minutes it was a little too early (to go for two). If it would have been around 2 or 3 minutes, we would have. We just thought our defense could get a stop and we could win it in regulation.”

This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Aledo edges Lubbock-Cooper to reach state title game for 9th time in 11 seasons."