Game film at the Class 1A level isn’t exactly high-def, but not even Zapruder-like graininess masked the way teams generally approached Aledo’s prolific offense: very, very warily.
Tuscola arrived at a different tack: Attack the Green Dragons very, very scarily.
“The plan of the week was just to smack them in the face,” Warriors linebacker Wil Maxey said after a 35-20 victory in the 1A title game at Memorial Stadium. “Our plan was to go right after them from the beginning.”
Aledo (13-1) collected 451 yards of offense, but the unit that had averaged 51.3 points per game produced just six before halftime. An ankle injury to tailback Justin Allen–1,901 yards coming in but just 11 in the title game–certainly didn’t help.
For Tuscola (14-0), quarterback John Weinke found Broc Winn for touchdowns of 25 and 37 yards and Nick Hanke for a back-breaking 80-yard score early in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve got some big [receivers], we’ve got some small ones, but they’re all athletic,” Weinke said after throwing for 384 yards and four scores.
That, plus the unpleasant defensive attitude, was enough.
“Nobody hit them [before],” Winn said. “We brought our speed and our craziness and we definitely hit them.”
