Aledo explodes in fourth quarter, rallies to win shootout against Lucas Lovejoy
Aledo hasn’t trailed in many playoff football games under Tim Buchanan.
Down by 10 points late in the third quarter against Lucas Lovejoy, Coach Buc and the Bearcats were looking for a spark.
They got it on special teams.
The Bearcats, two-time defending Class 5A Division 2 state champs, rallied to score 24 points in the fourth quarter to eliminate Lovejoy, 52-48, on Friday at Globe Life Park.
Aledo (11-1), No. 2 in the 5A D2 state rankings, is headed to the state semifinals for the eighth straight season and will play Wichita Falls Rider (11-2), which beat Lubbock-Cooper, at 7 p.m. Friday at Apogee Stadium in Denton.
“So proud of the guys coming back in the second half. We stayed calm and focused, and stuck to our game plan,” Aledo quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi said. “Defense and special teams made huge plays that helped us out and gave us momentum. It was a total team victory.”
Lovejoy quarterback RW Rucker had himself a night and after he scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, the Leopards led 38-28 with 1:46 to go in the third quarter.
Then Aledo did what Aledo does in the playoffs.
Clay Murador booted a 43-yard field goal early in the fourth and the defense picked up a stop. Lovejoy lined up to punt, but Oliver Crow blocked the attempt and the ball landed in Caden Anderson’s chest before rumbling toward a 50-yard TD to tie the game at 38 with nine minutes left.
“We were trying to get the ball to the offense and Oliver Crow came up with the big block and the ball fell right into my hands. I was just trying to go as far so the offense, JoJo and DeMarco can do their thing,” said Anderson, who scored his first TD. “Crazy especially in a game like this in our playoff run, it’s awesome.”
“He’s a really good football player and a great kid. He’s a true Bearcat,” Buchanan added.
Lovejoy (13-1) answered with a 42-yard FG by Trent Rucker, but Aledo RB DeMarco Roberts, who has been on a roll the past two weeks, returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a 45-41 lead midway through the fourth.
“It was an offensive shootout, but really we won it with special teams,” Buchanan said. “That block and punt return for the touchdown was the big spark that really got the fire burning. Then DeMarco returned that kickoff and those two things broke their spirits and pumped our kids up.”
Aledo never trailed again.
Roberts, who rushed for a game-high 268 yards on 34 carries, capped off the win with a 29-yard scoring run, his third TD rush of the ballgame that extended Aledo’s lead to 52-41 with 2:42 remaining.
“He’s the best 5-foot-9, 160-pound football player I’ve been around,” Buchanan said. “He can do everything.”
Lovejoy had an answer when Rucker threw a 39-yard TD strike to Reid Westervelt that cut the lead to four less than a minute later. The Leopards couldn’t recover the onside kick and Roberts picked up 11 yards on third down to seal the deal.
Rucker threw for 422 yards on 25 of 41 passing and five TDs. He added a team-high 114 yards and one score on 20 carries. His two leading receivers were Westervelt (13 catches, 279 yards, 2 TDs) and Luke Mayfield (9-120-2).
Despite a new year, both teams started off Friday’s game as if they didn’t miss a beat from the previous round when Aledo scored 45 points against Frisco and Lovejoy put up 64 on Mansfield Timberview.
After a pair of punts, Aledo scored first on a 20-yard scoring run by Roberts with 7:55 left in the opening quarter.
Trent Rucker’s 24-yard field goal pulled the Leopards within 7-3 on the ensuing drive, but the Bearcats extended their lead to 14-3 on their next possession on a 50-yard TD from Fowler-Nicolosi to Alabama bound JoJo Earle with 4:41 to play in the period.
Earle had five catches for 94 yards, 11 carries and 56 yards and two total TDs.
Then like the Timberview game when Lovejoy trailed 29-15 before going on a 42-7 run, the Leopards’ offense turned up the heat against the Bearcats. Rucker, who threw eight TDs last week, tossed four first-half scores to help the Leopards take a 31-21 lead into intermission.
Following Earle’s score, Lovejoy capped off an 8-play, 68-yard drive with Rucker’s 13-yard TD to Mayfield to make it 14-10 at the 2:50 mark of the first quarter. Rucker and Mayfield connected on a 19-yard score to give Lovejoy a 24-21 edge with 3:44 to play in the second quarter.
The Leopards took their first lead at 17-14 on their next drive with a 21-yard TD by Rucker to Westervelt, who had nine catches for 157 yards in the first half.
Aledo was able to regain the lead at 21-17 three possessions later on Roberts’ 37-yard run with 4:45 left.
Leading 24-21, Lovejoy added its third TD of the second quarter with Rucker’s 2-yard TD to Trent Rucker on fourth-and-goal.
This story was originally published January 1, 2021 at 11:01 PM.
