Sally Sexton — NORTH RICHLAND HILLS —The Aledo Bearcats can add another banner to their campus. Proving any doubters that they were the best team in District 9-4A, the Bearcats laid down a beating to the previously undefeated Birdville Hawks Thursday night, 48-13, cementing yet another district crown.
It looked to be an extremely close contest early, with the two teams throwing offensive punches, and trading each other touchdowns. Aledo finally put the clamps on Josh Dorman and the rest of the Hawk offense after the first quarter, and the rest was history.
The district crown was the second in a row for the Bearcats.
“I’m extremely proud of the way we played defense,” said Aledo head coach Tim Buchanan. “We basically lined up with five guys in the boss, so they had to run.”
That strategy proved to be the game’s turning point, as Aledo managed to hold Birdville quarterback Josh Dorman to 203 yards passing and only two touchdowns, with those coming in the opening period. After Dorman threw a 62-yard reception to Nate Perkins, the Hawks would not score again the rest of the night.
“The biggest thing was the defense staff made a little adjustment, moving Michael Williams. It shut the running game down a little bit, and we still managed to keep pressure on the quarterback.”
The Aledo offense, productive all season long, scored its fist touchdown in the first two minutes, with Matthew Bishop completing a 54-yard touchdown to wide-open Stetson Stockard along the sidelines. After Birdville returned the favor, the Bearcats turned to Johnathan Gray, who delivered on three drives, including a 49-yard run, to set up a 1-yard touchdown.
“He got tired early. I think we maybe ran him a little too much,” Buchanan said. “He’s a good football player, not bad for a sophomore.”
The Bearcats continued to abuse the end zone, on the back of Gray, who finished with 195 yards, all of those coming in the first three quarters. He also added his customary four tochdowns as well. Aledo would convert its first drives into touchdowns, to lead 27-13 at one point. They capped off the half with Gray’s 2-yard run to go ahead by three TDs.
Bishop, who was held to under 100 yards passing the previous week, broke out for 158 yards, completing 12-of-17 attempts.
“Our defense did really good, they stepped up well, and my line blocked good for me and Gray,” the sophomore quarterback said. “We did a little quicker passes this week to set up the quick game.”
The Bearcats, heading into their 14th-straight postseason, will play Little Elm next week at North West High School. Date and time to be determined. Birdville will catch Lake Dallas in the first round of playoffs.
Aledo 48, Birdville 13
AHS 20 14 7 7 - 48
BHS 13 0 0 0 - 13
Scoring drives
First quarter
A- Matthew Bishop 54 pass to Stetson Stockard (Andrew Kocurek kick)
B- Josh Dorman 8 pass to Jonathan Dents (Anthony Bardon kick)
A- Johnathan Gray 1 run (Kocurek kick)
B- Dorman 62 pass to Nate Perkins (kick blocked)
A- Gray 11 run (kick blocked)
Second quarter
A- Gray 52 run (Kocurek kick)
A- Gray 2 run (Kocurek kick)
Third quarter
A- Bishop 31 pass to Stockard (Kocurek kick)
Fourth quarter
A- Gregg Lowe 3 run (Kocurek kick)
Team stats
AHS BHS
First downs 18 11
Rushes-Yds 43-315 35-163
Passing Yds 158 203
Com-Att-Int 12-18-0 11-20-0
Total Yds 473 366
Punts-Avg. 2-43 5-38.4
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0
Penalties-Yds 5-40 2-20
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