DeMarco Roberts ran for three touchdowns and quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi threw a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Jason Llewellyn to lead Aledo to a 52-20 victory over Cleburne Friday at Yellow Jacket Stadium.
Aledo turnovers and penalties allowed Cleburne to keep it close at halftime, 24-14, but the Bearcats outscored Cleburne 28-7 in the second half.
It looked like the Bearcats were going to run away with it early as a Roberts had TD runs of 1 and 45 yards to give Aledo a 17-0 lead with 1:38 left in the first quarter.
But then the penalties and turnovers began to get costly.
Aledo drove all the way down to the Cleburne 9 looking to extend the 17-0, but an interception in the end zone stopped that drive.
Aledo’s next drive ended in Cleburne territory on a lost fumble. Cleburne then cut the Aledo lead to 17-7 on a 55-yard halfback pass.
A pair of holding penalties stopped Aledo’s next drive then Cleburne was aided by a pass interference penalty to score with 57 seconds left in the half to make it 17-14.
Aledo stayed aggressive to try and get points before the half. On first down from the Cleburne 33, quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi dropped the shotgun snap. However, he didn’t panic. After picking up the ball, he looked deep to find tight end Jason Llewellyn open in the end zone for a 33-yard score with 12 second left in the half to make it 24-14.
The Bearcats were able to eliminate the mistakes in the second half to pull away for the victory.
“We quit worrying about things we had no control over,” coach Tim Buchanan said of Aledo’s big second half.
In the first half, Aledo was called for 11 penalties for more than 100 yards. The Bearcats were called for just one penalty in the second half.
Roberts got his third TD run on the first offensive play of the third quarter. Roberts went down the left sideline for 53 yards to make it 31-14. Roberts, who sat out for much of the second half, finished with more than 160 rushing yards.
Cleburne’s lone score of the second half came on their first possession of the third quarter to cut the lead to 31-20, but from there on it was all Bearcats.
Ryan Williams and Jeremiah James each had 1-yard TD runs and Llewellyn’s second TD reception was for 14 yards.
With leading receiver Jo Jo Earle sitting out with an injury, Llewellyn and Jaedon Pellegrino took up with slack. Llewellyn, a junior who played on the defensive line last year, finished with six receptions for 78 yards and the two touchdowns. Pellegrino finished with five receptions for 55 yards.
“Jason Llewellyn is a good football player and he showed what he can do today,” Buchanan said.
Also showing what he can do was California move-in quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi. Although he didn’t start, he played for eight Aledo offensive possessions. The Bearcats scored touchdowns on six of those possessions. One possession ended with a fumble in Cleburne territory and the other got stalled by a couple of holding penalties.
Fowler-Nicolosi completed 11 of 14 passes for 146 yards and the two touchdowns.
For the game, Aledo finshed with 507 yards of total offense. The Bearcats rushed for 314 yards and passed for 193 yards.
Aledo has it final regular season game next Friday when the Bearcats host Burleson.
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Scoring Summary:
A – Clay Murador 31 FG
A – DeMarco Roberts 1 run (Murador kick)
A – Roberts 45 run (Murador kick)
C – Jacarrean Gray 55 pass from Cleo Chandler (kick)
C – Gunner Hammond 5 run (kick)
A – Jason Llewellyn 33 pass from Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi (Murador kick)
A – Roberts 53 run (Murador kick)
C – Chandler 16 pass from Hammond (kick failed)
A – Ryan Williams 3 run (Murador kick)
A – Llewellyn 14 pass from Fowler-Nicolosi (Murador kick)
A – Jeremiah James 3 run (Murador kick)
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