WEATHERFORD —
If there was a missing ingredient to the cross-county rivalry recipe between Weatherford and Aledo prior to last year, the Roos probably added the absent spice by blemishing the Bearcats’ 2009 state-championship season with its only loss, 28-27. The win went a long way in helping make Weatherford’s season a little sweeter, coming about as close as a team can, in failing to acquire a postseason date.
Before last year, Aledo owned the annual meeting by a 30-point average margin. The edge to the confrontation was honed in the schools’ fourth meeting last year, when a blocked PAT ultimately decided the contest, prompting an extended on-field Roos’ celebration.
Aledo head coach Tim Buchanan, fresh off a 20-3 Bearcats’ win over long-established rival Stephenville last week, is fairly emphatic regarding the intended focus of this week’s meeting against the Kangaroos.
“If any of our players have a hard time getting up for this game, they probably shouldn’t be playing Aledo football,” said the coach when asked if Weatherford, sandwiched in the schedule between Stephenville and Class 4A, Division I champion Lake Travis might be cause for a potential letdown.
Even though the final stats in the Aledo-Stephenville match favored the Yellowjackets, Buchanan credits the defense with playing true to the coaches’ philosophy.
“I really thought that was the key to the game,” Buchanan said of the timeliness of Aledo’s defensive stops. “We talk to them all the time about ‘bend, but don’t break,’ and that game was a good example of that, because they actually had more total yards than us, but we kept them out of the end zone.”
The ‘Jackets were intent on stopping running back Johnathan Gray, and did a fair job, holding the strong, speedy junior to 82 yards rushing in 20 attempts. But the Bearcats have other weapons in its arsenal, and used them.
“Matt Bishop is a heckuva quarterback and can be a threat running and passing,” Buchanan said, “and we have some good receivers to go with him.”
The Roos are coming off a disappointing 22-19 loss to Haltom, smarting from the sting of “one that got away,” after dominating the Buffalos for much of the first half. Offensive and punting miscues yielded poor field position for Weatherford, and created a short field for Haltom, which was exploited by the Buffalos’ offense.
“Defensively, we hit a lot goals last week,” said Weatherford head coach Reid Waller. “We played very well in the first half, on both sides of the ball, and the defense actually finished well.
“The biggest disappointments were, obviously, the scoreboard and a couple of mistakes we made on special teams. Part of that is growing pains, and those mistakes are easily fixed.”
Despite the heartbreak, Waller was encouraged by the play of the Roos, particularly in the opening half, as Weatherford’s triple option churned out productive numbers to take an early lead. The first-year head coach of the Roos noted any Haltom adjustments were not the primary cause for second-half lapses.
“Nearly all the mistakes we made, offensively and defensively, were self-inflicted,” Waller said. “Sometimes in a game situation, the kids try to do more than they’re asked to do in practice, which can take them out of a role they were taught.
“But they understand it better after watching the game film, and they realize that the practices are designed to help prevent those mistakes.”
Waller sees this week’s matchup as a return to the learning mode while getting prepared for district play.
“Aledo is definitely a challenge, which is good for us,” Waller said. “To me, it’s no different than any other non-district match, an opportunity to learn and get better.
“I’m sure it might be a bit more special to the kids, playing a neighboring team. They take it seriously, but then, I’m seeing them take all of our games more seriously, regardless of who we’re playing.”
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