Jimmy Ivey
JOSHUA — For the second week in a row, the Aledo Bearcats have been a completely dominant force on the football field.
Last week, it was a 48-0 shutout over Alvarado. This week, while on the road, the Bearcats scored six touchdowns on their way to a 45-0 win over the Joshua Owls to move to 3-1 in district play.
The third quarter was the dominant one for the Bearcats, as Aledo scored three quick touchdowns. On Aledo’s first play of the second half, Ryan McGuire took the football 37 yards for a touchdown. Two minutes later, Aledo got the ball back and went to work again on the offensive side of the football. The Bearcats drove the ball 44 yards on seven plays to score their fifth touchdown of the night, as Cole Loftin ran the ball in from the 1-yard line.
During that drive, Loftin went over the 1,000-yard mark for the year, as he entered Friday’s contest with 808 yards on 71 carries. For the season, Loftin has 88 carries for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns
The final Bearcat score in the third quarter came at the end of an eight-play drive, which ended with Nico Dollar punching the ball in from 5 yards out.
While the Aledo offense was packing its punch in the third quarter, the Aledo defense had just as impressive a quarter. The Joshua offense ran 14 plays in the third quarter and finished the quarter with zero yards. Joshua finished the game with only 122 yards of total offense, while being forced to punt the ball away eight times for a total of 204 yards.
The only Bearcat mistake that Joshua seemed poised to capitalize on came in the second quarter when Loftin fumbled a handoff with McGuire. Joshua was forced to punt after being held to six yards on three plays.
The Bearcats go home this Friday night to host Cleburne, who lost to Stephenville 69-7.
Aledo 45, Joshua 0
AHS 7 17 21 0 — 45
JHS 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
AHS — Austin Stockon 10 yard run (Kyle Loeffelholz kick) 9:12
Second Quarter
AHS — Cole Loftin 13 yard run (Loeffelholz kick) 11:52
AHS — Loftin 60 yard run (Loeffelholz kick) 4:11
AHS — Loeffelholz 21 yard field goal 0:01
Third Quarter
AHS — Ryan McGuire 37 yard run (Alan Birchmier kick) 9:46
AHS — Loftin 1 yard run (Loeffelholz kick) 6:36
AHS — Nico Dollar 5 yard run (Birchmier kick) 1:05
AHS JHS
First Downs 21 8
Rushing Yards 38/336 40/89
Passing Yards 9/18/0 91
3/8/1 34
Punts 1/39 8/25.5
Penalties 2/25 1/5
Fumbles/Lost 2/1 2/0
Individual Rushers — AHS: Ryan McGuire, 4-44; Cole Loftin, 17-211; Austin Stockon, 5-34; Brady Thomas 3-6; Nico Dollar, 2-11; Kirt Swanzy, 4-32; Joe Dearing, 2-8; Chance Gooch, 1-1. JHS: John Savage, 16-40; Larry Strickland, 14-34; Jonathan Flores, 10-15.
Individual Passing — AHS: Cole Loftin, 4/8/0 39 yards; Brady Thomas, 5/10/0. JHS: Larry Strickland, 3/8/1/ 34.
Individual Receiving — AHS: Kirby Myers, 1-30 yards; Cole Loftin, 1-6; Tanner McDonald, 2-91;
Ryan McGuire, 5-43; JHS: Wiley Jones, 14-34; Jeff Hickerson, 1-18; John Savage, 1-(-2).
