Denton Guyer avenges last season’s shutout vs. Aledo, spoils Buchanan’s return
John Walsh had Friday night’s game circled for 12 months.
After the way his Denton Guyer team played Aledo to start last season, you can’t blame him.
Guyer suffered a 40-0 loss to the Bearcats in 2018, its first shutout defeat since its first varsity game in 2006, but the Wildcats turned the tide at Bearcat Stadium in Friday’s season opener.
Senior running back Kaedric Cobbs rushed for 216 yards, two touchdowns and six 2-point conversions as the Wildcats spoiled Tim Buchanan’s return as head coach, 60-57.
Cobbs had pictures of Aledo’s 5-star Oklahoma commit Jase McClellan everywhere he went prior to Friday’s game.
“I had to make sure I was motivated,” Cobbs said. “Anytime I go against a running back like him, I want to show that I can do what he can do. I just took it really personal tonight.”
Buchanan spent 21 seasons and won five state titles as Aledo’s head coach before moving to athletic director in 2014, where he had spent the previous five years. He came back as head coach in January.
“It would’ve been a helluva lot better if we won, but I got what I wanted,” Buchanan said. “It’s exciting and I’m not sorry I did it. Losing one game isn’t going to make me not want to coach again.”
Guyer (1-0) was ranked No. 3 in the preseason Dallas-Fort Worth area Top 10 and proved it’s going to be a Class 6A contender when it led 22-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Wildcats scored on the second play from scrimmage when junior quarterback and Texas A&M commit Eli Stowers threw a 52-yard TD to senior Seth Meador (Air Force).
Meador finished with four catches, 162 yards and three TDs.
“He’s fast and he’ll outrun anyone on any given day,” Walsh said. “You put single coverage on him and you saw it on the second play of the game; he’ll beat you deep.”
Aledo (0-1) scored on its first drive on a 45-yard TD pass from senior QB Jake Bishop to Utah commit Money Parks, who finished with four catches and 77 yards.
The Wildcats scored on their first five possessions — their only non-score coming to end the first half. Cobbs scored on a 7-yard run and Stowers threw TD passes of 29 and 38 yards to Meador and Travis Romar to extend their lead to 28-14 with 7:18 until intermission.
“We knew we had to score a lot even before the game. We knew how talented their offense was and we knew it was going to be a shootout,” said Stowers, who accounted for 393 yards and four passing TDs.
But the Bearcats took every single punch Guyer gave them and responded.
“It wasn’t going to be a blowout, I can promise you that,” Buchanan said. “It was a great game. We’ll get better.”
McClellan, the No. 1 area player, rushed in TDs from the 1- and 5-yard line, and junior JoJo Earle ran in a 13-yarder from the wildcat formation to give Aledo 28 points in the first half.
Cobbs thew a 3-yard shovel pass to Deuce Harmon with 1:45 in the second quarter. The Wildcats led 36-28 at the break.
“They taught us a good ol’ fashion lesson last season of what a quality program with experience can do and we flipped it and it turned into a shootout,” Walsh said.
McClellan scored on a 9-yard run, but Aledo couldn’t convert on the 2-pointer that would’ve tied the game at 36 with 9:50 in the third quarter. The Bearcats and Guyer traded all seven scores in the second half.
Aledo had cut the lead to 60-57 with 2:22 to play on a 37-yard pass on fourth-and-long from Bishop to McClellan. Guyer recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the Bearcats forced a turnover on downs with 40 seconds on the clock.
The Bearcats’ final attempt turned into a hook-and-ladder that reached the Guyer 35 as time expired.
It was Aledo’s first loss at home since 2014 vs. Bishop Amat, Calif. It was the first home loss to a Texas team since Baker Mayfield and Lake Travis in 2011.
“We had a chip on our shoulder since last season. We started to prep ever since this game last year,” Meador said.
Aledo finished with 485 yards. McClellan rushed for 120 yards and four touchdowns to bring his career total to 99 rushing TDs. He added 82 yards receiving and one TD.
“We remembered last year’s game and we took it personal,” Stowers said. “We’ll enjoy this one tonight.”
For extensive coverage of high school football check out DFWVarsity.com and Sunday’s print edition.
This story was originally published August 31, 2019 at 12:04 AM.
