ESPN

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS -- Aledo's Jonathan Gray turned 16 just over six months ago, but his parents aren't ready for him to drive yet, so the sophomore hasn't gotten his license or driving permit.

It's definitely not for lack of maturity.

Gray is playing well beyond his 16 years and currently is a little busy driving the Aledo offense after he rushed for 212 yards and four touchdowns Thursday night in leading the Bearcats to the District 6-4A Championship with a 48-13 win over Birdville at the Birdville Fine Arts/Athletic Complex.

"He's pretty good," Aledo coach Tim Buchanan said. "Not bad for a sophomore."

That was just a slight understatement. Not only did Gray finish with 212 yards on 23 carries -- that's 9.2 yards per carry -- but he also rushed for 178 of those yards in the first half while Aledo built a 34-13 halftime lead on the previously undefeated Hawks.

“

Our mentality was we were going to play harder than they did

” - Aledo running back Jonathan Gray

And the Bearcats (9-1, 7-0 in District 6-4A) weren't just playing for the district title, they were playing for playoff seeding. With the win, Aledo will play fourth-place team from District 5-4A Little Elm at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Justin Northwest High School. Birdville (9-1, 6-1) plays Lake Dallas at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Saginaw High School.

The game started out looking like a shootout, and the Bearcats knew they'd have to put up big points to beat Birdville's potent offense. The Hawks were averaging 47.3 points per game going into the contest, and they had scored 50 or more points in four out of their first six district games.

Aledo quarterback Matthew Bishop found a wide-open Stetson Stockard streaking down the right sideline on the third offensive play of the game, and Stockard took the perfectly-placed pass and finished off a 54-yard touchdown catch and run for a quick 7-0 Aledo lead.

Birdville responded with a four-plus minute drive, ending with a Jonathan Dent 8-yard touchdown catch from QB Josh Dorman.

Then it was Aledo's turn again, and this time, Gray had a 48-yard pickup that set him up for a 1-yard touchdown run on the next play.

Birdville's response was a 62-yard touchdown pass from Dorman to Nate Perkins. Dorman completed 10 of 21 passes for 201 yards in the game, and Perkins caught two passes for 105 yards.

But then Aledo really started putting on the pressure defensively, and, by the end of the game, the Bearcats had six sacks and had kept Birdville's leading wide receiver Cory Hines without a catch.

"I'm extremely proud of the way we played defense," Buchanan said. "When you look at two kids that average over 100 yards per game, and Hines does not have a catch -- that's really unbelievable."

Gray added touchdown runs of 11, 62 and 2 yards by the end of the first half, and Aledo had six plays in the game of 25-plus yards.

Bishop, who went 12 of 16 with 162 passing yards, connected with Stockard for a 31-yard touchdown on Aledo's first possession of the second half that put the Bearcats up 41-13. Aledo's starters were almost all out of the game by the end of the third quarter.

Gregg Lowe added a 3-yard touchdown run with less than a minute to play, capping off a 495-yard night for the Bearcats offense. Birdville gained 323 total yards with John Alvarez leading the team with 90 rushing yards on 17 carries.

"Our mentality was we were going to play hard and play harder than they did," Gray said. "We're glad to have won the district championship. We look forward to the playoffs and playing hard there."