Aledo football takes care of Shoemaker to advance to area round
Nov. 11—ALEDO — The Aledo Bearcats dismantled the visiting Grey Wolves 37-0 Thursday to advance to the area round of the playoffs.
The Bearcats will face the winner of Cooper and Bel Air.
The Grey Wolves' defense forced the Bearcat offense to punt on their first drive of the game at Bearcat Stadium.
The defense for the Bearcats came ready to play as they pitched a shutout in the first half of the game, coming up two interceptions, multiple sacks and forcing the Shoemaker quarterback into making mistakes.
"I am proud of the kids," Aledo Head Coach Tim Buchanan said. "You never know what will happen when you play someone your players have no idea who they are. Our kids came out from the beginning and played exceedingly well, especially on defense."
Aledo got their first score on the night with a 72-yard run up the middle by Hawk Patrick-Daniels, who the defenders couldn't get their hands on.
The defense got their first turnover at the beginning of the second quarter as Aven Lawrence intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards to set the offense up with first and goal on the 5-yard line.
One play later, Caleb Pope took the ball up the middle for a hard-fought run to get into the end zone to put the Bearcats up 14-0.
On the ensuing Wolves' drive, the Aledo defense was all over theme. Devon Keys stopped the Shoemaker offense on third down, and one play later, the defense forced the Wolves to turn the ball over on downs with a 15-yard sack.
Aledo QB Brant Hayden starts the drive off with back-to-back big runs to set up first and goal for the Bearcats. One play later, Patrick-Daniels runs the ball up the middle for his second score of the night to put his team up 21-0.
The Bearcat defense did not let up all night, forcing another punt for the Wolves.
The Bearcat offense ran through Pope on the next drive as he picked up two first downs and his second touchdown of the night with a quick run to the right to put Aledo up 28-0 towards the end of the half.
The defense managed to intercept its second pass of the night, and after the offense took a few shots into the end zone, the Bearcats went into the locker room up big on the visitors.
The Wolves received the ball to open the second half and immediately met with a defense that made the correct adjustments during halftime.
Andrew Parkhurst, for Aledo, tackled the Shoemaker QB on a keeper, which forced the Wolves to punt the ball away.
Keys capped off a quick Bearcat drive with a two-yard rushing touchdown to put the game out of hand at 35-0 late in the third quarter.
"It was hard to get time to throw the football, which caused us to run the football more," Buchanan said. "Brant did a good job managing the game and putting the ball in the right place."
The fourth quarter became about giving the backups playing time, which turned the quarter into a defensive match where neither offense scored.
The only points to be scored in the final quarter on Thursday night were on a safety as Lawson Moore for Aledo got to the ball carrier in the end zone.
