The Aledo Bearcats came in looking for their second straight title and the 12th for the school. Their 11-state titles are already a UIL record, and they came in having won 7 titles in the last 10 years. The Smithson Valley Rangers came in looking for their school’s first-ever state title in their 4th championship game appearance.
Aledo went 3 and out on their first drive, and a bad punt gave Smithson Valley the ball at midfield. The punt was only Aledo’s 3rd punt of the season. On the Smithson Valley’s first drive, they had a chance to connect on a long touchdown pass, but the pass was just long, and the Rangers punted. The punt pinned the Bearcats back to their 2-yard line to start their second drive.
On the next play, Aledo jumped offsides, pushing them back to the 1-yard line. Then, the Rangers tackled Aledo in the endzone for a safety and a 2-0 lead. Following the safety, the Rangers took the free kick back to the 45-yard line. Ryland Walker connected with Freedie Dubose to move the Rangers inside the Aledo 40-yard line. However, the Ranger offenses stalled from there. They brought in kicker Clayton Amaya to try a 49-yard field goal, and he connected to give Smithson Valley a 5-0 lead.
On the next Aledo drive, Henjy threw an interception on the first play, and a facemask by Aledo put the Rangers at the 8-yard line. The Rangers were unable to gain a yard, and they settled for another field goal to go up 8-0 with 5:29 to go in the first quarter. On the next Aledo drive, they faced a third and long, but Hauss Hejny made a great pass to the sideline to get the first down, then ran for a first down past midfield on the next play. Henjy continued to lead the drive, then Hawk Patrick-Daniels got Aledo on the board with a 25-yard touchdown run to cut the Rangers lead to 8-7 with 1:28 to go in the first quarter.
The Rangers went 3 and out on their next possession and punted back to Aledo. 2 plays later, Patrick-Daniels broke free again for a 43-yard run deep into Smithson Valley territory. 3 plays later, Patrick-Daniels scored again on a touchdown run, putting Aledo up, 14-8, with 9:36 to go in the first half. On the next Smithson Valley drive, they threw deep on two consecutive plays, and they drew a pass interference on the second, putting the ball at the Bearcats 46-yard line.
The Smithson Valley drive got down to the 29-yard line, but the Rangers went for a 4th and 3 and were not able to pick up the first down. Aledo took over at the 27-yard line. A few plays later, Henjy hit Kaydon Finley for a 69-yard touchdown to put Aledo up 21-8. With under a minute to go, Aledo had the ball back, and Henjy threw a 37-yard pass to Trace Clarkson down to the 22-yard line with 0:27 to go in the first half.
Second Half
Smithson Valley got the ball to start the third quarter but went three and out and had to punt. The punt went off the side of the foot of the punter and went only 18 yards. The Rangers defense forced a 4th down on the first drive of the half for Aledo, but Aledo converted on a 4th and 1 at midfield. A few plays later, Henjy connected with Colton McCoy for a 29-yard touchdown and a 31-8 lead. 
The Rangers went 3 and out again on their next drive and punted back to the Bearcats. The Smithson Valley defense stepped up and forced the second Henjy interception to give their offense the ball back with 6:30 to go in the 3rd quarter. But Davhon Keys had a huge sack for his 12th tackle at that point in the game and stopped the Smithson Valley drive. 2 plays later, Patrick-Daniels scored his third touchdown on a 51-yard run to put Aledo up 38-8.
Aledo quickly got the ball back, and Patrick-Daniels broke another long run, then Henjy ran it in on the next play for a touchdown to put Aledo up 44-8 with 2:20 to go in the third. After another Aledo defensive stop, Aledo sent their backups into the game with 10 minutes to go in the game. They then went on a long 6-minute drive, scoring on a Roderick Blake touchdown run to push the lead to 51-8 with 3:49 to go in the game.
Smithson Valley was unable to move the ball on their last drive, and the clock ran out.
Final Score: Aledo 51 / Smithson Valley 8
Hawk Patrick-Daniels with 192 yards rushing and 3 TDs
Hauss Henjy with 202 passing yards, 77 rushing, and 3 TDs
UIL gives the Offensive MVP Trophy to Hawk Patrick-Daniels and the Defensive MVP to Davhon Keys.https://youtu.be/E1MEKfOT-m0
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