Aledo scores late then holds off Midlothian in thriller to reach the state quarterfinals
Aledo linebacker/short-yardage running back Davhon Keys scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:58 left in the game and then sealed the win with a huge stop on fourth down as the Bearcats escaped with a 27-21 win over Midlothian in a Class 5A Division 1 regional-round game on Friday night at Midlothian ISD Stadium.
Aledo (11-2) advances to the state quarterfinals and will face District 3-5A D1 foe Burleson Centennial (12-1), which defeated Abilene 24-14, at 2 p.m. next Saturday at the Ford Center in Frisco.
With the game tied at 21-all, the Bearcats got the stop they needed, forcing a punt by Midlothian (12-1) and took over at the Panthers 41 with 6:16 left.
Aledo quarterback Hauss Hejny converted a huge third-down with a 16-yard pass to Jalen Pope to the Midlo 29. The Bearcats next faced a fourth-and-1 at the 20 when Keys came in to attempt to pick up the first down out of the Wildcat formation.
“At first, I’m not gonna lie, I was kind of scared because everyone was crowding the line,” said Keys who carried three times in the game for 26 yards. “The left was crowded and that’s where I was supposed to go. I went left, but peeked right and saw that it was wide open. My linemen collapsed their guys and I took off, racing to the end zone and trying not to get tackled.”
The point after attempt was missed, giving Aledo a 27-21 lead and giving Midlothian some life with 2:58 left.
The Panthers stormed down the field picking up consecutive first downs on a 32-yard pass play from Chad Ragle to Bryant Wesco and a 19-yard run by Jordon Richburg.
With a first down at the Aledo 32, an incomplete pass and two running plays netted 7 yards, but the Panthers faced a fourth-and-3 from the 26. Everyone in the stadium expected Midlothian to run the option and pitch the ball, which the Panthers gashed the Bearcats with all night, and they did.
“I just played my responsibility and did what coach (Brad) McCone said and read the direction the quarterback turned,” said Keys, who stopped the runner two yards short of a first down. “I took off at an angle and I happened to get there.”
It looked as if Aledo would run away with the game after going up two scores in the first 10 minutes.
The Bearcats took the opening kick and marched 68 yards in 10 plays. A 13-yard gain on third down on a slip screen from Hejny to Pope gave Aledo a first down at the Midlothian 49.
Seven plays later Hawk Patrick-Daniels took a handoff on a zone read and darted up the middle for a 14-yard score and Aledo led 7-0 with 7:28 left in the first quarter.
The Panthers moved the ball on their first series, but lost it on downs at the Aledo 34 when a reverse pass from De’ago Benson to Kole Tompkins was ruled out of bounds after Tompkins hauled it in.
After a false start pushed the Bearcats back five yards, Hejny took a quarterback draw to the house from 71 yards out to give Aledo a 14-0 lead with 1:54 left in the opening stanza.
That’s when Midlothian got things rolling as the question of whether the Panthers’ running game could flourish against Aledo’s stout defense was answered.
Michael Garber raced 49 yards to the Aledo 2 on the first play of the second quarter and carried it in himself on the ensuing play to cut the lead to 14-7.
Following an Aledo punt, the Panthers weren’t able to move the ball either, but opted for a fake punt that was snuffed out by the Bearcats’ Lawson Moore and Aledo took over at the Midlothian 32.
Midlothian held and a 21-yard field goal by the Bearcats was wide right to give the overflow home crowd a spark. Benson piked up 39 yards on an option pitch left down to the Aledo 30 then Garber ran untouched up the middle for a 5-yard score to tie the game at 14 with 48 seconds left before the intermission.
Richburg had 77 rushing yards on six carries and Benson carried the same amount of times picking up 80 yards.
That lead lasted until the 8:13 mark of the fourth quarter when the Bearcats tied the game. Patrick-Daniels, who tallied 87 yards on 10 totes, ran off left tackle untouched for an 18-yard score.
“The fact that we were able to come from behind and win the football game is something we hadn’t done this year,” said Aledo coach Tim Buchanan who is 78-14 in the playoffs in his coaching career. “The first two games we were behind and didn’t come back to win it, but tonight we did. That was a really good football team and we’re battered and bruised, but it was a great game and a great finish.”
“It was an exciting game and it had a lot of ups and downs,” added Keys, whose team has not allowed more than 21 points in a game during its current 11-game winning streak. “I’m just glad at the end we came through.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2022 at 10:24 PM.