ALEDO — It was the Johnathan Gray show all over again, as the Bearcat scored five touchdowns to lead Aledo to a 34-9 victory over Mineral Wells Friday night.
The sophomore finished with 28 carries for 243 yards, his most productive outing so far in District 6-4A play.
“Once we got them blocked and he wasn’t having to break tackles in the backfield, he did extremely well,” said Aledo head coach Tim Buchanan. “We went to him tonight in critical situations down there on the goal line. We handed him the ball and he gets us out of a hole. Lot of trust in him as a sophomore.”
For only the third time all year, the Bearcats (6-0 in district, 8-1 overall) trailed at the end of the first quarter. The Rams (1-5 in district, 3-6 overall) got themselves on the board with a 17-yard field goal by Charles Paret after a Bearcat defense held them on first-and-goal.
The deficit didn’t remain a deficit for long, as the Bearcats quickly went to Gray, who broke through for a 34-yard touchdown four plays into the second quarter. Andrew Kocurek, who finished four-of-five on extra point attempts, kicked the ball through the uprights for a 7-3 lead.
Mineral Wells made good possession on its next drive, getting the ball all the way to Aledo’s 34-yard line before the Bearcats forced a fumble they would recover. On the ensuing drive, Bishop completed a 21-yard pass to Gray and scampered for 14 more before handing the ball off to the running back, who took it in for seven yards and a 14-3 advantage.
Bishop had perhaps his slowest night, completing 6-of-17 passes with an interception for 80 yards.
“Matt struggled a little bit, but there were quite a few dropped balls as well. He threw three balls that should have been over 35-yard gains that we dropped,” Buchanan said. “He also wasn’t getting that great of protection. It’s hard when you’re running for your life almost every snap.”
Though the Bearcats led at halftime, the scoring didn’t really get started until the fourth quarter, with both teams idle in the third.
“[Mineral Wells] did a great job defensively,” Buchanan said. “They really mixed up the coverages and it took us a couple of possessions to try to figure out what they were doing.”
Gray took over the final 12 minutes of play, scorching the Rams for 140 yards in the fourth. Those yards also accounted for his last three touchdown runs, on 39, 39 and 58 yards, mostly untouched. The first two came within two minutes of each other to start the period.
“My line created holes for me to go through, and when those holes weren’t there, I’d just go,” Gray said. “The first half, we came out a little bit sloppy and in the second half, we just picked it up and went from there.
“The holes really weren’t there, we were just getting worked into the game, but we just hit it and went in the second half.”
Aledo caps off district play at Birdville Thursday at 7 p.m. for the district crown. The Hawks (6-0 in district) defeated Brewer Friday night, 50-28.
Aledo 34, Mineral Wells 9
MHS 3 0 0 6 - 9
AHS 0 14 0 20 - 34
Scoring plays
First quarter
M- Charles Paret 17 FG
Second quarter
A- Johnathan Gray 34 run (Andrew Kocurek kick)
A- Gray 7 run (Kocurek kick)
Fourth quarter
A- Gray 39 run (Kocurek kick)
A- Gray 39 run (kick failed)
A- Gray 58 run (Kocurek kick)
M- Hunter McCoy 30 pass to Dillon Wilkins (kick failed)
Team stats
AHS MHS
First downs 18 10
Rushes-Yds 32-273 34-181
Passing Yds 80 48
Com-Att-Int 6-17-1 4-8-0
Total Yds 353 229
Punts-Avg 2-42.5 5-39.2
Fumbles-Lost 0 1-1
Penalties-Yds 4-32 2-15
Individual leaders
Rushing
A- Gray, 28-243; Yusef Marwan, 2-19. M- Gunner Pederson, 17-142; AJ Poole, 12-44.
Passing
A- Matthew Bishop, 6-17-1, 80 yds. M- McCoy, 4-8-0, 48 yds.
Receiving
A- Michael Mann, 3-39; Gray, 1-21. M- Wilkins, 3-35; TaMarkus Carter, 1-13.
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DAVID CLAUSEN/DEMOCRAT PHOTO
Aledo sets up District 6-4A shootout with win over Rams
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