ARLINGTON – As Aledo coach Steve Wood accepted the eighth UIL state championship trophy in the powerhouse program’s history Friday night, a gaggle of media and school officials converged around him.

Standing 10 yards behind Wood without much fanfare was one of the bigger reasons why the Bearcats have morphed into an annual state title contender.

Tim Buchanan cheered and thrust his right fist into the air during the trophy presentation on the AT&T Stadium turf. In his last football game as Aledo’s athletic director, he’d just seen the Bearcats overwhelmed heavy-hearted Fort Bend Marshall 55-19 for the Class 5A Division II championship. 

“To have been here through it all, from where we started in 1993 to see this happen, it’s unbelievable honestly,” Buchanan said after the program joined Katy, Southlake Carroll, Celina and Richland Springs for the most titles in UIL football history. “I was the sixth coach in five years. One of them only stayed two days. It’s a tribute to these people, this community, these kids and these coaches. There’s not another place like it in high school football.”

When Buchanan took off the headset after the 2013 season with 227 victories and five titles, he knew the program would be in good hands with Wood. The Bearcats haven’t missed a beat since that seamless transition five years ago.

“It’s a heck of a lot harder to maintain it and keep it than what it is to build it,” Buchanan said. “A lot of people build them.”

Building it from the ground up is what Buchanan did when he arrived in Parker County 25 years ago. The Bearcats had 17 players that season and only won two games. That was their last losing record and they’ve made the playoffs every year since 1996. 

But let’s get real. District titles and playoff appearances are afterthoughts. Aledo expects to win the whole shebang and the Bearcats are disappointed when they don’t like in last year’s 20-19 setback to College Station on this grand stage.

“You can’t take anything for granted. Last year we took it for granted and we weren’t humble and hungry,” Aledo offensive lineman Chandler Knandel said after helping pave the way for 321 rushing yards Friday. “This year we were humble and hungry. Winning an eighth is a special feeling.”  

Celina was the first to eight titles when the Bobcats took down China Spring in 2007. It’s hard to make a case against Aledo for not becoming the first to nine. 

In addition to Oklahoma University commit Jase McClellan (149 yards, three TDs) returning next fall, the Bearcats also have starting quarterback Jake Bishop plus stud sophomores JoJo Earle and DeMarco Roberts to defend their title. Aledo’s penchant of churning out overpowering linemen likely isn’t going to change, either.

“We won’t even talk about it as coaches – now the kids may,” Buchanan said about the race to nine. “As coaches we talk about getting better day by day and try to be better young men tomorrow than we were today.” 

Buchanan waited 11 years between Aledo’s first title (1998) and his second. The last seven have come in a 10-year flurry that doesn’t seem that long ago unless you’re one of the Bearcats’ rivals that keep getting trounced.

Buchanan has been the one constant during that process. And while he’d gladly deflect all the credit to those around him, the heights Aledo has reached under his watch shouldn’t go unnoticed.

“It’s something you never would have dreamed it would happen, but I’m dadgum glad it did,” he said, another gold medal hanging from his neck.