Aledo adds to its UIL state record with a 12th championship in win over Smithson Valley
The Aledo football team was in search of its 12th UIL championship to add to its state record, but it didn’t look good early for the Bearcats.
The Aledo offense sputtered from the start, digging a bit of a hole, but the Bearcats’ defense kept the course. The offense finally got on track as Aledo pummeled Spring Branch Smithson Valley 51-8 in the Class 5A Division 1 title game before 22,184 watching at AT&T Stadium.
Top-ranked Aledo (16-0) got off to a rocky start as No. 4 Smithson Valley (14-2) took an early 8-0 lead on a safety and two field goals, but the Bearcats defense kept the game from getting out of hand.
Bearcats’ running back Hawk Patrick-Daniels was tackled in the end zone by Rangers’ safety Diego Davila to give the Smithson Valley a 2-0 lead with 9:37 left in the first quarter.
After the free kick the Rangers picked up a first down, but Aledo held and forced and 49-yard field goal attempt that was nailed by Clayton Amaya. The kick set a record for the longest field goal in a Class 5A championship game and the second longest in any classification at state.
On the first play of the ensuing drive Aledo quarterback and TCU commit Hauss Hejny was picked off by Rangers’ cornerback Zach Gingrich who returned it 14 yards to the Bearcats’ 16. A facemask penalty on the play moved it to the eight.
Once again the Aledo defense held and Amaya came on to boot a 30-yard field goal to give Smithson Valley an 8-0 lead at the 5:29 mark of the first period.
“It wasn’t really too nerve-racking,” said Hejny of being down early. “They were just getting lucky in my opinion. I had confidence in us to bounce back and just play Bearcat football.”
Hejny got the Bearcats moving after that scoring 51 unanswered points. Aledo went on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended when Patrick-Daniels ran around right end and scampered 23 yards for the touchdown to cut the lead to 8-7 at the 1:28 mark of the first quarter.
Aledo’s ensuing series ended in another Patrick-Daniels TD from seven yards out. The drive covered 68 yards in seven plays to give the Bearcats a 14-8 lead with 9:36 left in the second quarter.
Patrick-Daniels moved from slot receiver back to running back after Raycine Guillory went down with an injury a few weeks back. Patrick-Daniels was the starting running back for the Bearcats last season.
“There really wasn’t any pressure for me moving back to running back,” said Patrick-Daniels who had 16 carries for 186 yards and three TDs to earn Offensive Most Valuable Player honors. “I’m with my o-line every day watching film and learning which holes to hit. I’m just blessed to have the best line in the state. I just love this team”
Davhon Keys stopped the Rangers next drive when he tackled Cole Freund for a one-yard gain on a fourth and two. Three plays later Hejny was hit as he threw, but found wide out Kaydon Finley across the middle for a 69-yard score to up the lead to 21-8 with 3:00 left before the break.
Cole Crawford booted a 35-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to push the lead to 24-8.
The Bearcats poured it on in the second half. Hejny hit Colton McCoy for 29 yards and a score, Patrick-Daniels raced 51 yards for a TD, and Hejny scored on a 10-yard zone read to up Aledo’s lead to 44-8 with 2:20 left in the third quarter.
“Honestly, after we scored our first touchdown I knew that the offense was picking up momentum,” said Keys, the Defensive MVP who’s heading to LSU. “I had complete faith that they were going to take the game and run with it and they did.”
Keys finished with 12 tackles, two of those for losses. Keys and the Aledo defensive unit didn’t allow a touchdown and forced Smithson Valley to punt eight times.
Aledo replaced its starters on offense to start the fourth quarter. Roderick Blake added a seven-yard scoring run with 3:55 left in the game to cap the scoring for the Bearcats.
Aledo won its first state title in 1998 and the Bearcats have dominated since 2009, winning 11 more championships. Aledo lost to College Station, 20-19, in 2017 and the Bearcats didn’t reach the title games in 2012, 2015 or 2021.
Aledo’s 12 football championships are three more than the next teams on the list. Carthage, Katy and Richland Springs have nine each.
“I’ve been here longer than these kids have been alive,” said Aledo head coach Robby Jones, who finished his first year as head coach of the Bearcats after 23 seasons as an assistant coach at Aledo. “I could tell when this class was seventh graders that they were a really talented bunch.”
Aledo has won 30 consecutive games dating back to last year and this is the first perfect season, 16-0, since the Bearcats moved up to 5A D1.
“It’s my senior year so I’m just trying to take it all in,” said Hejny, who completed nine of 17 passes for 202 yards and rushed for 77 yards on 13 tries. “It’s not very often that you get to play in back-to-back state championships, much less win them, so I’m just trying to enjoy the last moments with my brothers and best friends for life because this is special.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2023 at 9:51 PM.