Alvarado football continues dominant streak, throttles Kennedale to claim district title

The District 6-4A Division I title. An unbeaten regular season. Both were on the line as the Alvarado Indians battled perennial power Kennedale Wildcats in a showdown at Charles Head Stadium on Nov. 7.

The No. 3 state-ranked 4A Division I team and No. 2 in the Star-Telegram’s 4A area poll, Alvarado (10-0, 5-0), cruised past Kennedale, 42-7 to finish its most impressive regular season in team history.

The 2011 team had a 10-0 record and went on to finish 14-1, losing 20-19 to Tyler Chapel Hill in the 3A title game, the program’s lone state championship appearance.

But this year’s juggernaut offense has obliterated the program’s record book, averaging an unheard of 59.7 points per game entering the regular-season finale, and had scored at least 48 points in every contest.

“District champions,” said Alvarado Head Coach Casey Walraven. “That was our goal to start the season. And going 10-0 makes it even sweeter. Excited for our coaches. Excited for our fans. Excited for our community.”

Signal caller Cardea Collier, who Coach Walraven calls the best quarterback in the state of Texas, had another stellar performance in piloting the prolific offense, rushing for three first-half touchdowns (seven, 18 and 65 yards) as Alvarado held a comfortable 28-7 halftime advantage.

“I thought our offense did a great job in the first half jumping out to a quick lead,” said Walraven. “Kennedale’s style makes it more difficult to play from behind for them, and we wanted to get out to a lead.”

Senior Lance Sansom took a 26-yard shovel pass from Collier on the first possession out of the break to push the lead to 35-7, and junior running back Demarcus Belton, who had a seven-yard first-half TD scamper, added a second score on a three-yard power run in the final period to round out the scoring.

“We weren’t quite as sharp in the second half,” said Coach Walraven. “But our defense did a great job of making stops.”

Collier finished with a game-high 153 rushing yards on 15 carries, and the three TDs, while completing 10 of 16 passes for 160 yards and another score.

“He is such a special talent,” said Coach Walraven, who raves about his quarterback. “He is starting to get some recognition, which is long overdue,” added Walraven, in this third season at Alvarado.

Belton turned in an outstanding performance for Alvarado, rushing for 139 yards -- including 117 in the second half -- on 17 attempts, and hauled in three passes for a game-high 99 yards.

The Indians, which won every regular season game by 13 or more points, now gear up for what they hope will be a deep playoff run.

No. 9 in the Star-Telegram’s current 4A area rankings, Kennedale lost just its second district game in the last 12 years (Lake Worth in 2022 the other setback).

Running back Brian Cox had a team-high 108 rushing yards on 20 carries to pace the Kennedale offense, which got its lone score on a 12-yard TD run by Riley Bingham in the first period, as the Wildcats Wing-T offense gained 180 yards rushing on 47 attempts.

A ground-oriented offense, Kennedale came into this game having completed just 12 of 43 passes for 176 yards and two TDs all season. The Wildcats had six completions (from three different passers) for 138 yards in this contest.

District champ Alvarado, securing the program’s 34th playoff appearance, opens the 4A Division I playoffs next Thursday night, likely against Fort Worth Eastern Hills, a 7 pm start at Crowley ISD Stadium.

That matchup, according to Coach Walraven is “tentative”. “We are looking forward to the playoffs,” said Coach Walraven. “We need to clean up a few things. But we will be ready to go.”

Making its 29th post-season in program history, district No. 2-seed Kennedale (5-5, 4-1) has a yet-to-be-determined 4A Division I bi-district matchup next week, needing two post-season wins to ensure head coach Richard Barrett’s remarkable streak of 23 winning seasons continues.

Barrett has led Kennedale to the playoffs in each of his 24 years guiding the program, winning at least seven games each season that began in 2001, a streak also in jeopardy unless the Panthers advance to the Regional round.