It was a day of domination on Friday as the two DFW area Class 5A powers flexed their muscle in a major way and brought home state titles.
Aledo opened up the afternoon with a dominant 56-21 win over a Crosby to earn its 10th state championship; this was the first state title game for the Cougars since 1960.
Meanwhile, Denton Ryan ended four years of playoff frustration by blasting previously unbeaten Cedar Park, 59-14, to earn its first title since 2002.
Aledo’s defense struggled to open the game as Crosby scored touchdowns on their first two drives to take an early 14-7 lead. But the Bearcats, led by Lamar signee RB DeMarco Roberts, got the offense rolling by scoring six straight touchdowns to blow the doors off the Cougars.
Roberts earned offensive MVP honors by rushing for 254 yards and six touchdowns, second in state title game history only to Aledo’s Jonathan Gray, who ran for eight touchdowns in Aledo’s state title win over LaMarque in 2010.
Alabama WR signee JoJo Earle left his mark on the game as well catching six passes for 133 yards and a touchdown and adding in 91 yards rushing.
For Crosby, it was a historic season under second-year head coach Jerry Prieto, beating four straight top 10 teams to make it to the state title game, which gave the school something to cheer about after a couple of rough years due to financial issues in Crosby ISD.
Denton Ryan left no doubt who the best team in the state was in 5A-Division I as the Raiders absolutely demolished Cedar Park. Ryan, which struggled in their state semifinal win over Mansfield Summit, came out focused and laser sharp on both sides of the ball.
The Raiders defense forced four Cedar Park turnovers, which led directly to 21 points, while the offense as efficient as they’ve been all year. QB Seth Henigan led the way with 264 yards passing and four touchdowns to four different receivers. The Ryan running game was as solid as ever with Kaleb and Ke’Ori Hicks combining for 222 yards and a pair of touchdown runs.
Ryan, who had lost in the state semifinals three straight years to Highland Park and last year fell in the state title game to Shadow Creek, exercised all their playoff demons this year by beating Highland Park in the regional finals and then capping the season off with the dominant title effort.
The 2020 TXHSFB season will wrap up Saturday with two more games as Cedar Hill takes on Katy and Southlake Carroll plays Austin Westlake.
Looking for a place to stay for the game? Check out Live! by Loews
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