Nearly 25 years since its first football title, Aledo still playing for championships
When Tim Buchanan got to Aledo in 1993, he was the sixth head football coach in 4 1/2 years.
He was looking to make it to two years.
It ended up being 30.
Aledo (13-2) takes on College Station (13-2) in the Class 5A Division 1 state championship on Saturday at AT&T Stadium. It’s the program’s 13th appearance in the state final.
“Both my kids were born here. Both my kids graduated from here. My wife had been a teacher here for a long time. It’s home,” said Buchanan, whose been Aledo head coach for 25 years. “I’ve spent half of my life here. Aledo is a great place to raise a family. It’s a special place.”
Aledo had some rough years early in Buchanan’s career.
Then the Bearcats went 14-1 and played in the state semifinals in 1997.
They followed it up with a 14-7 win over Cuero to win their first state championship in 1998.
Since then, Aledo has been king of Texas.
The Bearcats will look to beat College Station for their 11th title. Their 10 titles are a UIL record. They set the record in 2020 after defeating Crosby 56-21.
“I was trying to make it through two years,” Buchanan said. “I thought if we could go two years and get a winning season, we could make the playoffs. We knew we had good kids in the seventh and eighth grade level and if we got them to high school, we had a chance to make a run and that’s what happened.”
Buchanan said this year’s team and the 1998 team are similar.
Aledo started that season with a loss to Bridgeport and was predicted to finish sixth in district. The Bearcats started this season with a pair of losses.
“Very similar to this group. We had a bunch of young kids that weren’t on varsity the season before. No body expected anything, but it was group that had to build through the season before getting to the state championship game. We were lucky enough to come out with the victory.”
Before Aledo, Buc worked in College Station.
He was an assistant for A&M Consolidated and helped coach the team to a state title in 1991, a 35-16 win over Carthage. Buc spent five years as Aledo’s athletic director before returning as head coach in 2019.
“There are probably some kids playing [for College Station] that their dad or uncle played for us in ‘91,” Buchanan said. “College Station is a lot like Aledo. Same type of kids and both schools have really good high school football players.”
Championship match-up
College Station is making its second straight trip to the state title game and third overall.
The Cougars lost to Katy Paetow in the 5A D1 game last season. They beat Aledo 20-19 in 2017.
Coach Steven Huff left for Decatur, but the Cougars returned under Stoney Pryor.
“They run a 3-4 defense and we need to block their front three and get some movement on their down guys and get up to their linebackers. Otherwise it will be a long day for our offense,” Buc said.
Running back Aydan Martinez-Brown has rushed for over 2,000 yards with 22 touchdowns.
Quarterback Arrington Maiden has over 2,100 yards passing and 16 TDs.
“They have a really good running back and their quarterback, we’ll need to get pressure and not let him stand back and throw the ball down field. I think our defense matches up pretty well,” Buc said.
Aledo comes in averaging 42.8 points per game while giving up 16.5.
The Bearcats beat No. 1 Longview 17-14 in the state semifinals.
Aledo rallied from 14-3 down and hung on late, even after a two-hour weather delay.
“Impressed with the grit and determination, and the amount of heart we showed, especially from the defense,” said Aledo junior QB Hauss Hejny, who has accounted for 3,000 yards and 29 TDs. “They played a heck of a game. Giving up 14 to a powerhouse Longview offense.”
“We showed great discipline. Longview is a great team,” added junior Davhon Keys, who scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 10-yard run. “We proved we belong at the state championship game.”
The tradition
Aledo won six titles from 2009-16 and then added three in a row from 2018-20. When Buc took the AD role and Steve Wood became head coach in 2014, the Bearcats won.
When the pair switched roles in 2019, they won.
“Everyone thinks its a normal thing, but you still put in the work and effort to achieve it,” said senior offensive lineman Isaac Sohn, who’s committed to UT-San Antonio. “This group has been thinking about it since we were in middle school. We’ve grown up together. We love each other.”
Johnathan Gray, who played for Aledo from 2008-11, is one of the all-time best players in Texas high school football history. When we graduated, he had broken most of the state records for a running back.
He finished with nearly 11,000 yards and over 200 touchdowns.
Now he’s a coach for his alma mater.
“It’s extremely incredible to be a part of something like this. As a kid growing up here, you dream about being on the high school team and playing for state,” Hejny said. “I’m extremely grateful, not a lot of kids go through what we’re going through.”
“Growing up and watching Johnathan dominate a high school football game, you look up to him and now he’s come back to his community and alma mater, it’s awesome to have,” added Hejny of Gray.
This story was originally published December 16, 2022 at 4:43 PM.
