The Aledo Bearcats defeated the Frisco Liberty Redhawks, 57-14, to take the Area title Friday night at Apogee Stadium in Denton.
The physicality of the Bearcats, in the trenches, continues to demoralize opponents.
Frisco Liberty quarterback Keldric Luster is known as a dual threat and was mostly contained by Aledo’s defense.
On offense for Aledo, six different players ran the ball Friday.
Ryan Williams had a strong first half before getting hurt in the second quarter.
William’s elbow injury will be looked at over the weekend and his status for next week’s game is unknown.
Williams had 130 yards rushing and three touchdowns on just 11 carries.
Sammy Steffe, the two-way threat, had 110 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries.
Connor Smith had 18 yards, Ryan Cox had 38 yards and Caleb Pope got into the game and scored late.
Aledo head coach Tim Buchanan emphasized the importance of Steffe’s ability to play both sides of the ball. With injuries and sickness, the Bearcats had some different looks against Frisco Liberty.
“With not having Hauss (Hejny) out there, it changed our alignment,” Buchanan said. “We had a couple of guys playing positions they weren’t really accustomed to, that might’ve added to the sluggishness of Brayden early.”
Despite quarterback Brayden Fowler Nicolosi’s slow start, the Bearcats had a balanced attack and showed the Redhawks a multi-faceted pass attack.
Jason Llewellyn was Fowler Nicolosi’s top target and had 101 yards against the Redhawks.
Llewellyn credits the team’s approach throughout the week, to their success against Liberty.
“They’re a really good football team and beat Lovejoy,” he said. “We knew they were going to be a tough opponent coming into this game. We focused in and practiced hard. Their defense does a lot of different stuff, lots of blitzes and shifts. They move around a lot. They’re a tricky team to be able to practice for and read and then execute on.”
Physicality and the war in the trenches, ultimately, favored the Bearcats.
“We had to be the more physical team. We knew we had to come out and punch them in the mouth from the get go, because if we got knocked back, we wouldn’t be good,” Llewellyn said. “Coming out, play one, we ran the ball. The goal was to run and pound it down their throat. I think we did a good job of that at times, and other times not. So, we got some things to correct going into week 3 (of the playoffs). All and all, it was a really good performance by these guys.”
Aledo’s defense played a critical role in shutting down a Frisco Liberty offense that had scored at least 45 points in four of it’s last five games.
“Don’t stay blocked. Get off blocks and go rally to the football,” Buchanan said. “They did a really good job of that. Coach (Brad) McCone and the defensive staff had a great plan, as far as keeping him (Luster) contained inside and not letting him get on the edge on us. Our kids really executed the game plan extremely well. We covered them well in the secondary. He is an accurate passer and he had very few places to throw the football.”
The Bearcats scored first, four minutes in, on a six yard Williams run.
Frisco Liberty fought right back on a methodical drive that displayed quarterback Keldric Luster’s skills by ground and by air.
Liberty scored on a 1 yard Luster run to even the score 7-7.
The Redhawks didn’t find the end zone for the rest of the first half.
By ground, Aledo controlled the football and capped off a three minute drive with a Sammy Steffe one yard touchdown run. The extra point by Jace Sims was no good.
In the second quarter, Williams scored twice–within four minutes. His 36 yard touchdown run was followed up by a 23 yard run that extended the Bearcats’ lead to 27-7, where it stood at halftime.
Jason Llewellyn was Brayden Fowler Nicolosi’s favorite target and led the receiving corps with 60 yards in the first half.
In the second half, Steffe scored twice in the third quarter.
Kicker Sims struggled early, missing two extra point attempts, but got his momentum back with a 25 yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Frisco Liberty added a late score on an impressive 59 yard run by Luster.
It was all Bearcats the rest of the way and Smith and Pope both scored rushing touchdown to conclude Friday’s area round bout.
The Bearcats face South Oak Cliff in next week’s regional quarterfinals matchup.
South Oak Cliff defeated Frisco Thursday night.
Llewellyn and the Bearcats know that this week’s approach, during a holiday week especially, will be intense.
“They are an extremely good football team,” he said. “We are going to have to come out and have the same mentality we had here– go out, execute, and do our jobs.”
Scoring
1st Quarter
A– Williams 6 run (Jace Sims kick) (8:20) 7-0
FL- Keldric Luster 1 run (Evan Moros kick) (4:44) 7-7
A–Sammy Steffe 1 run (Sims no good) (1:00) 13-7
2nd Quarter
A– Williams 36 run (Sims Kick) (10:52) 20-7
A– Williams 23 run (Sims kick) (8:38) 27-7
3rd Quarter
A– Steffe 7 run (Sims no good) (8:45) 33-7
A– Steffe 4 run (Sims kick) (5:02) 40-7
4th Quarter
A– Sims 25 Field Goal (11:55) 43-7
FL– Luster 59 run (Moros kick) (10:44) 43-14
A– Connor Smith 14 run (Sims kick) (9:37) 50-14
A– Caleb Pope 10 run (Sims kick) (5:12) 57-14
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