The Aledo Bearcats will face off against the Abilene Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Aledo knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 31 points or more in their past ten games -- so hopefully Abilene likes a good challenge.
Aledo is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They breezed by Chisholm Trail to the tune of 63-7. Given the Bearcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 21st, while the Rangers are ranked 381st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Aledo can attribute much of their success to Raycine Guillory Jr, who rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries, and Gavin Beard, who threw for 202 yards and three touchdowns while completing 86.7% of his passes. Kaydon Finley also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Aledo was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 208 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 171 rushing yards in ten consecutive matches.
Aledo didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Chase Wilburn and Alex Patton.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Abilene). Their defense stepped up to hand Parkland an 84-0 shutout on Thursday. The team's explosion on offense also rewarded the Eagles with their most commanding win of the season.
Tristan Beal went supernova for Abilene, throwing for 187 yards and five touchdowns while completing 83.3% of his passes. Another player making a difference was Ethan Joyner, who rushed for 100 yards on only seven carries.
Aledo's victory was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-1. Those victories were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 14.1 points per game. As for Abilene, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Aledo has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 231.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Abilene struggles in that department as they've been averaging 190.9. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Aledo against Abilene in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, as the squad secured a 56-21 win. Will Aledo repeat their success, or does Abilene have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
