Any talk about Aledo's season begins and ends with sophomore running back Johnathan Gray - and so did the Class 4A, Division II state championship game Saturday.
Gray scored three touchdowns early, then sealed a 35-21 win over Brenham with an 89-yard TD run in the fourth, leading the Bearcats to their second state title at Texas-Memorial Stadium.
He finished with 252 yards and four scores on 32 rushes.
"He's phenomenal, and he's only a sophomore," said quarterback Trey Ozee. "There's no telling how good he's going to be by the time he's a senior."
He's plenty good already.
Gray went into the game with 2,562 rushing yards, 479 receiving yards and 55 touchdowns - 46 of them rushing. With four scores Saturday, he pushed his career total to 74 in just two seasons.
That puts him more than halfway to the state record of 146 career TDs set by Cayuga's Traylon Shead in Saturday's Class 1A, Division II title game.
"It's amazing," Gray said. "I'm blessed. Thank God. I came out here and I worked hard, and we worked hard as a team."
