It proved to be the difference and the Christmas gift the Aledo Bearcats were looking for.<\/p>\n
Aledo drove down and scored, and then recovered a late onside kick by Calallen to defeat the Wildcats 24-16 in the Class 5A Division II state final on Friday night at AT&T Stadium.<\/p>\n
The Bearcats (16-0) won their seventh UIL state football title \u2014 tied for fourth all time in 11-man football \u2014 and sixth in eight years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t believe it. It still really hasn\u2019t hit me, but I\u2019m so proud of my team,\u201d senior quarterback Dillon Davis said. \u201cOur defense played lights out and the offense blocked really well, it was an all-around team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carson Hyles recovered Calallen\u2019s muffed punt with 27 seconds left in the third quarter, and Donnie Evans capped off Aledo\u2019s scoring drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Bearcats a 24-10 lead with 5:43 to play.<\/p>\n
The Wildcats (14-2) put up a fight as Alec Brown scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:34 left, but Aledo\u2019s Preston Jefferis recovered the onside attempt.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the goal all year long,\u201d said senior Wes Harris, who finished his Aledo career with a 60-3 record. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t about how good we were going to be or how deep we were going to go, but to win a state championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aledo brought in its jumbo package that included Harris and James Williams, and Rhett Harris ran in a 5-yard touchdown for the 7-0 lead with 4:09 in the opening quarter. This came five plays after Calallen\u2019s John Gaddis intercepted an Aledo pass attempt, but fumbled on the return. Seth Strickland recovered to give the Bearcats the ball again.<\/p>\n
On the ensuing drive, the Wildcats drove 72 yards on 15 plays and ate up over seven minutes, but came away with just a 20-yard field goal from Grant Gonzalez with 8:55 in the second.<\/p>\n
The Bearcats answered with its own field goal, a 35-yarder from Quinn Davis, to extend its lead to 10-7 two minutes later.<\/p>\n
Freshman running back Jase McClellan, who had a career-high 217 yards rushing last week in the semifinals, had a 59-yard touchdown run, carrying two defenders the final 5 yards, to give Aledo a 17-3 lead with 8:14 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Calallen quarterback Gaige Lamb\u2019s 32-yard touchdown run got the Wildcats within 17-10 with 5:44 left in the quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year we pulled through and came together as a team to win a state title and take back home,\u201d said senior offensive lineman Chuck Filiaga, who moved to Aledo from California in the summer.<\/p>\n
McClellan was voted offensive MVP with 98 yards rushing and one touchdown. Williams was defensive MVP with six tackles and two for loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an awesome feeling,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWe knew they had some big plays running the ball, but in the end of the day it\u2019s about who makes the most plays and we made the most.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Fort Worth Star Telegram, by Brian Gosset | Friday, Dec 16, 2016[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As part of Aledo ISD, kids at Walsh will attend Aledo High School and become a part of the amazing legacy the faculty and students there are creating. We are proud of the Aledo Bearcats for playing their hearts out and winning their seventh state title (sixth in eight years) this past weekend. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[1433,2082,2045,2033,1988,2012,2140,2104,1967,2094,2115,2735,2130,1736,2055,2071,1976,2122,2000,2023],"class_list":{"0":"post-457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-education"},"yoast_head":"\n