Texas commit Jaden Allen, Aledo upset No. 1 Longview
All week long Jaden Allen and the Aledo football players heard how bad they’d get beaten by the powerful No. 1-ranked Longview Lobos.
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After Saturday evening, the Bearcats had their upset knocking off state-ranked Longview, 17-14, from Kincaide Stadium in Dallas. Longview came out strong, building a 14-3 halftime advantage. But the Aledo defense played lights out in the second half, helped by Allen, 2024 LB Dahvon Keys, 2023 DL Ansel Din-Mbuh, and 2024 RB Keiran Patrick-Daniels.
“We’re super excited,” said Allen. “People threw us away after we started 0-2 but we believed in each other locked in and played Aledo football. Our mind set is the same; 1-0 every week. At this point there is no bad teams so our preparation is important.”
It was a truly interesting ending after a lightning delay was called with :56 seconds remaining in the game, with Aledo leading 17-14. Almost two hours later, the teams finished in the dreary weather.
For Aledo, they began the 2022 season with back-to-back losses to Denton Guyer and Parish Episcopal. Then they reeled off 13 consecutive victories to make it back to the state championship, its 13th trip to the state finals in program history. The Bearcats return to AT&T Stadium after a one-year hiatus, making its sixth title berth in the last seven seasons.
Allen has the tall task of covering Longview wide receiver, On3 four-star and Alabama commit Jalen Hale, in addition to helping with 2024 WR DK Reese and 2024 RB Taylor Tatum, recent Texas offer.
“All respect to those guys, Jalen is a monster,” Allen said. “I definitely got better tonight going against (Hale). DK Reese and (Taylor) Tatum are dogs too. And I loved it. If you love competition, this was a dream come true.”
Hale finished with 27-yard and 55-yard scoring catches in the first half, but was held to two receptions and scoreless in the second half.
Allen, 5-foot-11, 165 pounds, is the younger brother of UT freshman safety BJ Allen, and holds eight offers including LSU, Michigan State, USC, Mississippi State, and Jackson State, while hearing from other programs on occasion.
Aledo will face College Station in the 5A-DI title game on Saturday at 2pm (CT) at AT&T Stadium next weekend. College Station upset the Bearcats in the 2017 5A-D2 state championship.
Allen is the No. 206 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle, 19th-ranked cornerback, and 33rd-ranked overall in Texas, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
