Arlington Martin, on the strength of a 22-point fourth quarter, rallied to defeat Aledo, 35-21, Friday night at Tim Buchanan Stadium in Aledo. The setback ended a 136-game district winning streak for the 12-time state champion Bearcats (2-3, 1-1 in District 3-6A), which has started its first season in Class 6A with three losses in its first five games. It was the first district loss for the Bearcats in 19 years – since October 5, 2007 – when Aledo lost 35-28 to Everman. 

Down 21-13 entering the fourth quarter, Martin, which remained unbeaten on the season at 5-0 (2-0 in district play), got a 77-yard touchdown run from punter Kevin Grant on 4th-and-2 at its own 23 on the first play of the period to pull within a point, 21-20.

After forcing an Aledo punt on the ensuing possession, Martin, ranked No. 19 in the Dallas Morning News area rankings, proceeded to march 62 yards in plays before a 13-yard touchdown pass from Chase Devoll to Malik Mason midway through the fourth quarter gave the Warriors their first lead of the game. A two-point conversion run by Julian Delora on the PAT made it 28-21.

From there, the Martin defense took control. After allowing 21 points in the first half, the Warriors shut out Aledo in the second half, forcing a three-and-out and two turnovers-on-drives on the Bearcats’ last three possessions.

After Aledo turned the ball over on downs at its own 33, Kaden Phillips completed the comeback with a 33-yard touchdown run on the first play after the 2-minute timeout on his only carry of the game to seal the victory.

Aledo had dominated the game for the first three quarters. The Bearcats marched down the field on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead on a 13-yard pass from Tre Williams to Caden Palmquest. Martin quickly answered after a 55-yard run by Martin running back Javian Jones-Priest, a four-star Virginia Tech pledge. But Aledo kept Jones-Priest bottled up the rest of the night, and he finished with zero net yards on his other 13 carries. Jones-Priest came into the game averaging over 100 yards a game.

The loss overshadowed a huge game for Aledo running back Wyatt Dorsey, who finished with 210 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.