Alvarado riding momentum into bi-district battle vs. Lake Worth

Nov. 9—ALVARADO — The Alvarado Indians enter their Class 4A Division I bi-district showdown vs. Lake Worth with plenty of momentum coming off a 50-49 win over No. 2 Stephenville and a 79-35 shellacking of Waxahachie Life to clinch a postseason berth.

Even though the Indians (5-5) enter the playoffs as the No. 4 seed and an underdog vs. the District 6-4A DI champion Bullfrogs (8-2), Alvarado Coach Casey Walraven likes where his team is entering postseason play.

"I feel very good about where we're at," Walraven said. "Everything is kind of clicking at the right time. It's the mental part that I've been stressing and was somewhat concerned about throughout the year. But I think that Stephenville win and the way we attacked it mentally and physically has prepared us for the mental aspect of the game moving forward. I think having that success and then having a good showing [vs. Life] got us where we need to be to make a run."

It's Alvarado's first playoff appearance since 2019 as the Indians went 2-8 in 2020 and 2021. For Walraven and some of his coaching staff, including Offensive Coordinator Daniel Spencer, it's been a longer wait to prepare for a playoff game after five years in Cleburne without a postseason appearance.

"It's a great feeling to have your hard work pay off," Walraven said. "I think it puts in perspective how hard winning can be. I've always known that to an extent. I've chose places where it is a little more difficult at times to win. So when you do start having success, I think you are excited and you don't take it for granted.

"I'm proud for us coaches to represent Alvarado and to be able to go back to the playoffs for the first time in a few years and some of these coaches that's been with me have their hard work pay off and be back in the playoffs."

Lake Worth has dominated the majority of its opposition this year. The Bullfrogs' only two losses were a 17-16 defeat at Granbury in week 2 and an odd 14-10 loss at Fort Worth Dunbar.

Kennedale is the only common opponent the Indians and Bullfrogs share. Lake Worth knocked off district favorite Kennedale, 10-3, in a win that gave the Bullfrogs at least a share of the district title, while Alvarado dropped a 27-12 decision to Kennedale.

"They've been very successful this year," Walraven said. "They beat a really good Kennedale team to have a share of the district championsip and get the No. 1 seed. They've got two really good defensive ends that stand out pretty well. They've got a good quarterback and running back combo. They're well-coached, they do things correctly, they're sound, and they play hard. You can tell right off when you turn on film that they're a playoff team and they're successful for a reason."

Lake Worth is led by senior running back Damion Moore, who has rushed for 1,302 yards and 17 touchdowns on 128 carries in an offense that runs the ball nearly 75% of the time.

"They're definitely a run-first team," Walraven said. "They've got a lot of tricks in their bag when the run is not going well. They find ways to win. So we've got to make sure that we stop what they're really good at then have awareness for things that are out of the ordinary.

"That's one thing this year is we've faced a lot of really good running backs. And [Moore is] another one. It's something we've seen week in and week out. We've just got to make sure we're each doing our jobs individually and then as a collective whole we fly around and wrap up well and play with some swagger and confidence defensively."

Alvarado's defense is spearheaded by senior safety Kaden Ford (62 tackles, five passes defensed), junior linebacker Cassius Johnson (80 tackles), senior linebacker Colton Dawson (56 tackles, 3.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries), sophomore defensive tackle Ty Means (32 tackles) and senior defensive end Gavin Pocasangre (33 tackles, six tackles for loss, three sacks).

The Indians' offense has had its ups and downs throughout the season, but Alvarado has hit its stride with 129 points in its past two outings. The Indians have scored at least 40 points in five games this season as Alvarado averages 38 points per game, led by sophomore quarterback Cardea Collier.

Walraven said they entered the season with lofty expectations for Collier and he has found a way to surpass them. Collier, who won the week 10 Built Ford Tough Class 4A player of the week award, has reached a new level with his play the past two weeks, accounting for 756 combined passing and rushing yards with eight total touchdowns.

"We just need more of the same from Cardea," Walraven said. "He doesn't need to do anything extra special. He's already special and gifted enough. He doesn't need to do too much more. I knew he would attack situations like [the Stephenville game]. We placed high expectations on him from the very get-go. None of that's new for him and he's got a very elite mindset to go with his skillset."

Lake Worth is led defensively by a pair of elite defensive ends in seniors Hornel Cloubou (6-foot-5, 215 pounds) and Bryan Neal (6-foot-3, 230 pounds). Cloubou has 62 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, four sacks and three forced fumbles. Neal has 16 tackles, nine takles for loss and four sacks.

"I think they're probably the two most athletic and biggest defensive ends we've playd since Kennedale," Walraven said. "Our tackles are going to have their hands full but we've come a long way up front this year with them getting used to the system and Coach [Jim] Woolard has our O-line playing at a high level. We're confident in what they can do and what they've prepared for. We've just got to make sure that we do things collectively offensively, avoid penalties, avoid turnovers and just execute."

Walraven said every game, but especially playoff games against quality opponents, comes down to execution and avoiding costly mistakes.

"Overall, we've just got to execute in all three phases," he said. "But more specifically, defensively, we've got to contain No. 7 [Moore] and offensively we've got to slow those defensive ends down and not turn the ball over. If we do those things, we'll have a chance to be very successful."

Kickoff between the Indians and Bullfrogs is set for 7 p.m. Friday at UNT's Apogee Stadium in Denton.