An old nemesis is coming to town and you can expect some hard-hitting trench warfare at Kennedale?s Wildcat Stadium tonight at 7:30 p.m. {{more: continue .. }}The Alvarado Indians (0-2) are headed up 287, fired up and ready. Don?t let the record confuse you, this is a dangerous team.just a good on Texas fued …
You can?t call it a showdown because there is not a district title nor a playoff spot hanging in the balance. What it is, is just a plain old Texas ?git out of town by sundown or else? feud between neighbors. Last year, Kennedale was the visitor and left with heads hanging, carrying a 21-14 loss.
Just to show how close this series is, the last 12 times that the two teams have met, the series split evenly with Alvarado winning 6 and Kennedale taking 6. In years past, this was ?the game? of the season. Kennedale measured the success of the season on how well they played the Indians.
It isn’t a game that Coach Barrett takes lightly. Alvarado has embarrassed the Wildcats more than once. Last year was a case in point. Rated in the Top Ten, the Wildcats, having just come off an undefeated regular season, which included a 56-21 spanking of Alvarado, had high hopes for the game. Four quarters later, after an interception, two fumbles, a passel of penalties and with just two field goals and a passing touchdown, Kennedale was tagged with a disappointing loss.
Alvarado breakdown …
Last year, Alvarado (enrollment 1,047) went on to finish 9-3 and was a playoff area finalist. Head Coach Jeff Dixon is in his 13th year at Alvarado and has seen some of the school’s best seasons. In 2011, his team went 14-0 and made it to the state championship game at AT&T Stadium before losing in a classic 20-19 to Tyler Hill Chapel.
The Indians have returned 11 starters from last year, 4 on offense and 7 on defense. A key starter returning for the Indians is Jacob Shockley (Sr) who plays both sides of the ball (RB/DB) and who last year seemed to be all over the field. Look for some big plays by RB Blake Henderson (Sr) who had 1,700 yards rushing and 20 TDs last year. Keep an eye out for LB Cody Arnold (Sr), he is currently leading the team in tackles with almost 13 per game.
Alvarado started the year with a 35-20 loss to 5A Justin Northwest High School and then lost last week in overtime to Decatur 28-21. Both teams have remained undefeated.
So, far this season, Alvarado has mixed passing with the running game, but the rush is their primary option. They have rushed for 472 yards and 4 TDs and passed for 252 yards and 1 TD with 1 interception. Shockley at 208 yards and Blake Henderson with 229 yards have shared the load carrying the ball. Henderson had a big game last week against Decatur with 190 yards.
Kennedale breakdown …
At 1-0, Kennedale (enrollment 1,026) has just the one game under its belt. It is hard to judge the match-up, but the coaches have been pleased with the early results including the two earlier scrimmages. The consensus is that this team is better, at this time than last year?s team which went on to play in the state semi-finals before finishing at 11-4.
Kennedale returns 15 starters with eight on offense and seven on defense. One big playmaker, who wasn?t in the game last year against Alvarado, due to injury, was DJ Kirven ( 2,040 yards, 28 TDs). He will be starting in the game Friday night. Another difference should be that the same backfield of Kirven (Jr), Jaden Knowles (Sr) (1,395 yards 11 TDs and quarterback Evan Jowers (Jr) have returned with a year?s worth of experience and are running behind all-district linemen Andrew Flanigan (Sr) , Brett Bostad (Sr) and Isaiah Butler (Sr).
While the defense had to fill some big shoes, so far it seems to be working well together. Last week they limited Terrell to just 116 yards with work of returners CB Larry Brooks (Sr) with 8 tackles/1 sack/1 interception for TD/1 fumble recovery; DB Devan Mason (Jr) 13 tackles; DL Mayfield Hayes (Sr) 5 tackles/1 fumble recovery for TD; DL Ricardo Pena (Sr) 4 tackles; DL Avion Jenkins (Sr) 8 tackles; LB Braelin Brown (Sr) 12 tackles/1 fumble recovery; LB David Roper (Sr) 8 tackles; and, Kade Stephenson (Jr) 7 tackles.and the game ball goes to …Given the number of starters returning and the quality of the play of the seniors on the team, Kennedale should tack up another win. Variable: Alvarado. Always well coached, if Kennedale lets down, Alvarado will hurt them.
