‘Been in this moment before’: Aledo handles business against Abilene in regional final
It is known throughout the state of Texas that if one hopes to win the state championship in Class 5A D1, they must go through the Aledo Bearcats.
That was the case Friday night in Erath County as the Abilene Eagles came into Tarleton Memorial Stadium hoping to knock off the 11 time state champions for the Region 1 crown in 5A Division 1.
Despite a strong push by the Eagles in the second quarter, Aledo was just too much and walked away with a 56-21 win to advance to the state semifinals for the tenth time in the last eleven years. The Bearcats will face the Forney Jackrabbits on Friday, December 8 in Midlothian for the right to play for a state title.
“We go into every game with the same mentality,” Aledo linebacker Davhon Keys said after the game. “It’s one game at a time and don’t overlook any opponent. Every opponent is worthy, especially in the fourth round. So we did not let any outside force get to us, we just focused on the task ahead.”
Aledo (14-0) came out firing from the get go, driving down field in just six plays. Keys, usually a linebacker, came in as the wildcat back and pushed his way in to give the Bearcats the early lead 7-0 less than two minutes into the game.
Keys finished the game with 5 carries for 32 yards and 3 touchdowns, adding two tackles on the defensive side of the ball.
After forcing a quick three and out, the Aledo offense went right back to work. From the 18 yard line, Hawk Patrick-Daniels took the handoff around the side and scored to quickly make it a 14-0 game.
Patrick-Daniels finished the night with 12 carries for 88 yards and a pair of scores, while also catching two passes for 22 yards.
The ensuing kickoff was a low line drive that ricocheted off of an Abilene player and was recovered by Aledo’s Chase Wilburn. Four plays later, Keys found paydirt again from five yards out to make it a 21-point cushion.
After trading turnovers, the Bearcats struck again with a 16-yard pass from TCU-commit Hauss Hejny to Colton McCoy with just seconds left in the first quarter to give Aledo a 28-0 lead after just one quarter of play.
Hejny was the offensive spark for the Bearcats, completing 12-22 for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns, adding 95 yards on 11 carries and a rushing touchdown.
However, the script quickly flipped in favor of the Eagles. A bad snap on a punt for Aledo put Abilene on the three yard line early in the second frame. Brayden Henry got the honor of putting the Eagles on the board with a one yard scoring run.
After forcing an Aledo punt, Abilene quickly found the end zone again with a 14 yard pass from Dylan Slack to Ryland Bradford to make it 28-14 midway through the second quarter. However Aledo was able to drain the clock and limit the damage before going into the locker room.
“In the second quarter they changed up what they were doing defensively,” Aledo head coach Robby Jones said. “So we had to readjust to what they were doing.
“They were able to get a couple stops on us and of course we had a bad snap. So we handed them those 14 points because our defense played lights out the entire ballgame.”
Abilene (11-3) got a boost to open the second half after an Aledo fumble, but could not capitalize and the Bearcats quickly took control yet again.
Hejny called his own number and broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run that quickly dashed any hope the Eagles had left and gave Aledo a 35-14 lead. The Bearcats then got another break when Ky Howington tipped a pass up in the air and Cooper Kohan made a diving play to come up with the interception.
Four plays later, Keys scored his third touchdown of the game on a two yard keeper. After another quick three and out, Patrick-Daniels got a carry that started to the left and broke back to the right.
With the defense pursuing Patrick-Daniels, Hejny led the blocking and pancaked an Eagles’ defender clearing a gap along the sideline that allowed Patrick-Daniels to score from 40 yards out.
That was the last scoring play of the third quarter, leaving the score at 49-14 heading into the final 12 minutes of regulation.
The Bearcats opened the fourth quarter with one final scoring play when Hejny fired a pass to Trace Clarkson from midfield to extend the lead to 56-14. On the ensuing drive, the Eagles scored one more for pride as Slack connected with Bradford again for what turned out to be the final touchdown in Abilene’s season.
Aledo put their backups in for the final few minutes and ran the clock out to secure their spot in the state semifinals.
“We’ve been in the state semifinal game for ten out of eleven years,” Hejny said about the upcoming round. “This is a team that is experienced and was in the semi final last year, so we’re not really going to think about how big of a moment it is. We’ve been in this moment before and we’re just going to take it day by day this week.”
Aledo will play Forney next week for the first time since 2005. The two have met six times with Aledo holding a 4-2 advantage.
It will be the first time the two have met in the playoffs.
This story was originally published December 2, 2023 at 2:11 AM.