Aledo starts its quest for a 12th state title with solid win over Killeen Shoemaker

It was a lot soggy and a little sketchy for the top-ranked team in Class 5A Division 1 at the start, but in the end the Aledo Bearcats got things rolling to ease past Killeen Shoemaker 27-6 in a 5A D1 bi-district game on Thursday night at Buchanan Stadium.

Aledo (11-0), No. 1 in the state in the Dave Campbell’s Class 5A Division 1 poll and No. 1 in the Star-Telegram Class 5A rankings, advanced to the area round and will play Lubbock-Cooper (8-3).

“This was a great start and a good confidence booster especially coming off the Denton Ryan game against a good, tough team,” said Aledo quarterback and TCU commit Hauss Hejny. “We just have to take it day by day and not look too far forward and take care of business.”

Aledo is embarking on a playoff run to try to win a state title for the 12th time. The Bearcats have won 11 titles in 13 trips to the state championship game with the only two losses being by a single point each time.

Aledo struggled at the start with the misty rain. The Bearcats fumbled four times in the first six minutes, but were able to overcome it with a stout defensive effort.

The Grey Wolves went three and out after the first Aledo lost fumble. The Bearcats fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and again on the third play, but lost possession the second time.

On the first play following the Shoemaker punt, the Bearcats fumbled again and Jamie Smart pounced on it for the Wolves at the Aledo 27.

Aledo defensive back Chris Johnson, who’s headed to Arizona State, picked off a Shoemaker pass at the Bearcats’ eight yard line to thwart that drive. Johnson returned it out to the Aledo 35, where the Bearcats finally got their offense moving.

“We didn’t start off too well because of the fumbling, but blamed it on our long sleeves.,” said Aledo running back Hawk Patrick-Daniels, who led the Bearcats with 145 rushing yards on 23 carries. “We’re not going to say that it was the weather, but our long sleeves when the ball was wet. We were on the sidelines and cut off our long sleeves and didn’t fumble after that.”

Aledo scored on its next three possessions. The Bearcats marched 65 yards in 12 plays, narrowly surviving another fumble on the way, capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Davhon Keys out of the Wildcat formation.

The Bearcats added another 12-play drive, this time covering 80 yards, following a punt on Shoemaker’s next possession. Hejny did the honors for Aledo this time with an eight-yard scoring run to make it 14-0 with 8:10 left in the second quarter.

There was a personal foul for a facemask on the play against Shoemaker so Aledo elected to try an onside kick, kicking off from the Grey Wolves’ 45. Cole Crawford got a perfect, high bounce just in front of the Shoemaker defensive front and Boogie Owens was able jump high to gather in the ball for Aledo at the Wolves’ 30.

Four plays later Hawk Patrick-Daniels carried it in from eight yards out to give Aledo a 21-0 lead with 6:53 left in the first half.

Aledo held Shoemaker (7-4) to 43 total yards in the opening two quarters. The Grey Wolves had only seven yards on the ground on 11 carries and 36 more through the air on three completions in seven attempts.

“We definitely played incredible,” said Keys, an LSU commit who also plays middle linebacker for the Bearcats. “I’m really proud of our team and the defense as a whole, flying around making plays and that’s what you really hope for from a defense. I believe that this is the best team that I’ve been a part of here.”

Shoemaker finished with 146 total yards with most of it coming late in the game as Aledo was substituting liberally. The Grey Wolves had 87 rushing yards on 28 carries and 59 passing with eight completions in 22 attempts.

“I thought that we played really well defensively,” said Aledo head coach Robby Jones. “Offensively we moved the football, but we’d have a holding penalty or a false start or a fumble so we were keeping ourselves from scoring. I thought that we should have scored a whole lot more points, but we came away with the victory.”

Aledo controlled the game behind the offensive line of Alex Arana, Carter Campbell, Josh McCarley, Payton Williams Djay Williams and tight end Tyson Timms. The Bearcats made it 27-0 on a 12-yard run by Hejny with 2:27 left in the third quarter.

“We looked pretty sharp tonight,” said Hejny, who threw for 102 yards, completing 10 of 14 passes. “I think we could have put some more points on the board if we took care of the ball early on. We emphasized ball security after that and our offensive line played great tonight.

“We were able to execute plays and drive down the field every drive we had. I’m really proud of our guys staying focused throughout the game and just playing Bearcat football.”

With the win Aledo has now won 28 consecutive first-round playoff games. The Bearcats are now 95-6 at Tim Buchanan Stadium and have won 25 consecutive games after starting 0-2 in 2022.

“We’re looking forward to playing Lubbock-Cooper,” added Hejny. “They’re a good team with a bunch of guys that like to play hard like we do. If we just go out and handle our business and play the football that we know how to play and execute then we should be just fine.”

This story was originally published November 10, 2023 at 1:51 AM.