Alvarado State Championship

8/3/2019 Alvarado State Championship

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16 paGes ❚ VoluMe 102 ❚ no. 244 Johnson County’s daIly newspaper 75¢ weekdays — $1.50 sundays

tuyDecember 8, 2011

❚x Burleson City Council ap-

proved a permit for six gaswells after a continuation ofa public hearing and request

from Chesapeake Energyon Monday night. pg 3

❚x The Cleburne Yellow

Jackets basketball team haswon as many games thisyear as they did all of last

season. pg 6

Courtesy photo/Julie Holland

alv’ wy ock (7) l v f i Ii’ 69-6 i v Mil wll pi sim. ock m 2,887 ig y c 28c ig alv’ cmii gm.

Giant leap

By Zack cunningham

[email protected]

For the first time, the Alvarado Indians willplay for a state championship. Alvarado (14-0)

plays Tyler Chapel Hill (14-0) at 7:30 p.m. Fridayat Cowboys Stadium with the Class 3A Division Istate championship on the line.

This is Chapel Hill’s second year in the statechampionship game. Last year, the Bulldogs lostto Henderson, 28-21.

Alvarado has a similar tale involving revenge

against Henderson. After being knocked out, 20-13, in the state semifinals last year by Henderson,the Indians defeated the Lions, 34-13, last weekin the state semifinals to set a new school single-season wins record.

“It really hadn’t sunk in yet,” Alvarado HeadCoach Jeff Dixon said. “Life goes on and we’llenjoy it after Friday. Right now we’re just tryingto find a way to slow down Chapel Hill.

“I’m so excited for our coaches and playersand everybody. It’s such an honor and a blessingto reach this point.”

Alvarado made its way to the season’s finalgame with one of the state’s best defenses (itsgiven up 101 points this season ... and just 26points in the playoffs) and a ball-control offenseled by senior running back Wayne Onderdonck

(2,887 yards rushing, 28 touchdowns).Chapel Hill has lived on the edge the last few

weeks, needing a touchdown with 13 seconds leftto pull out a 21-16 win over West Columbia andfourth-quarter comebacks over Waco La Vega

Cl hill lbcl lf ialv’ quf il

s state, pg 11

The number of wins by both Alvarado and Cha-pel Hill this season. Alvarado’s previous record

for wins in a season was 13 set by 1995’s 13-1 team.

The number of points given up by Alvaradothis season. Twenty six were in the playoffs.

The number of rushing yards Alvaradoaverages per game.

Total offensive output by Alvaradothis season.

Number of interceptions by Alvarado thisseason.

Number of rushing yards forAlvarado senior running back

Wayne Onderdonck.

to suBsCrIBe or adVertIse 817-645-2441 or 817-558-2855 oFFICe hours: Mon.-FrI 8 a.M. to 5 p.M.

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Gm fcd tim:

7:30 p.m. Friday

plc: Cowboys

Stadium, Arlington

a k: Class 3A Division

I state championship.

For complete coverage,

see pg 7-11.

Tyler Chapel Hill (14-0) Alvarado Indians (14-0)

Darryl Lackey, Sr. Owner

Clint HughesForeman

Jesus is the reason for the season!For unto you is born this day in the city of David

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Thursday, december 8, 2011 sporTs Times-review 7

Motor Home Specialist5411 South I-35W

Alvarado, TX 76009817-790-7771

Indians AreSTATE BOUND!!

By Zack cunningham

[email protected]

For Alvarado senior running Wayne Onder-donck, this season’s journey to the state title

game against Chapel Hill has been a lot of things.

Onderdonck is pushing 3,000 rushing yards.He’s less than 150 yards short with 2,887 and hesaid it’s a goal that both he and the offensiveline, which he repeatedly praises, want.

“I plan on getting it,” he said, smiling. “Theoffensive line has been wanting it just as muchas I do.”

Onderdonck has averaged more than 200rushing yards a game and his ability to get firstdowns and ultimately touchdowns are a big rea-son why Alvarado’s offense is so deadly.

He’s complemented by quarterback KennyWest and fullback Lee Hardy. Hardy has rushedfor more than 600 yards and 11 scores.

“It’s fun and they complement me well,” he

said. “Kenny is a great leader and he also blocksreally well. They’re both great leaders and theyrun and play hard.

“They’re good athletes who are going tomake plays and that takes a lot of weight off myshoulders.”

Onderdonck, who has played on the varsity

team since his freshman year, said the gravity of getting to play at Cowboys Stadium still hasn’tsunk in.

He added the season didn’t end for Alvarado

or for him once the Indians earned revenge onHenderson in last week’s 34-13 win.

“I’m trying not to get caught up in all thehype,” he said. “We’ve still got a job to do. Weneed to keep getting better and there’s no pointin us being there if we’re not going to win it, inmy opinion.

“We’re never going to see Henderson again.That wasn’t the state championship. This is.”

Onderdonck echoed the sentiment that Al-varado Defensive Coordinator Eddie Hatchshared after Friday’s win over Henderson that

the Lions “got Alvarado’s rings last year.”“Those sure would’ve looked nice on us,”

Onderdonck said. “But it just wasn’t in the cardslast year. We played hard but we didn’t come outright in the second half. It was heartbreakingwhen we lost, but we knew all season we had toget better and that we needed to get better.

“The seniors wanted to get back there, andwe made it a point that we’d beat Henderson thisyear and then whoever we played in the statechampionship game.”

Despite carrying the ball 324 times this sea-son, Onderdonck said he’s ready for more in thestate title game.

“We’re going to feed off the energy and keepgetting better,” Onderdonck said. “This is it andthere’s no going back. We just had our last Mon-

day workout forever.“But I know that when you have a group of guys who are willing to work hard no matterwhat and know we’ve still got business to takecare off, it helps. When you have a bunch of guys who want to win, there’s no telling what wecan do.”

Indians’ humble standout authors Alvarado’s historic chapter


Alvarado’s Wayne Onderdonck (7) rumbles down the sideline during the Indians’ 34-13 win over Henderson in the Class 3A Division I state semifi-nals at Pennington Field.

It’s written in the star Bulldogspose aformidablechallenge

See BULLDOGS, Page 11

By michael hatch

special to the times-review

The Alvarado Indians face a tal-ented and tough Chapel Hill Bull-dogs team at Cowboys Stadium onFriday night. TheBulldogs are unde-feated at 14-0.

The Bulldogsare explosive onoffense, averagingmore than 45points per game inthe regular seasonand about the same

through four play-off games.

All State Hon-orable MentionQuarterback AverySaenz leads theBulldog offensiveattack. Saenz hasthrown for morethan 1,500 yardswith 18 touchdownpasses and four in-terceptions.

One of Saenz’sfavorite targets isanother 2010 all-state honorable

mention player Av-ery Henderson whohas more than 500yards and fivetouchdowns.

Wide receiverNelson Onwuzu is

just as good asHenderson. Thespeedy receiverhas more than 900yards and eighttouchdowns.

Saenz isn’t asmobile as some of the quarterbacksfaced by the Al-varado defense,having rushed for only 63 yards.

He hasn’t had to run much dueto the running attack Chapel Hillputs on the field.

By michael hatch


The DFW Metroplex has seen itsshare of sports firsts recently. TheDallas Mavericks winning the NBAchampionship, TCU winning theRose Bowl last season, and, morepainfully, the Texas Rangers comingwithin a strike of winning the WorldSeries, just to mention a few.

Despite no parade for the Rang-ers, long playoff runs and champi-onships have a way of galvanizing acity and making fans even out of

those who may not have a pure in-

terest in the sport.The run by the Alvarado Indians

football team to the Class 3A Divi-sion I state championship game hascertainly brought a great deal of at-tention to the small Johnson Countytown. The Indians are on the vergeof winning the school’s first everstate championship in football, orany sport.

“This is pretty special,” AlvaradoISD Public Information OfficerTommy Brown said. “Just to have achance to play for a state title in anysport is great.”

Although there is a definite up-

beat vibe at Alvarado High Schoolas students, faculty, players andcoaches prepare for Friday, the weekso far has been pretty normal.

“There’s a ‘Purple Out’ pep rallyon Friday so there are some specialthings going on,” Brown added.

John Copeland, manager of Frank’s Place Restaurant, which sitsa stone’s throw from Charles HeadStadium, said the conversationsaround the diner have been more fo-cused on the game and how the teamhas turned some heads.

“There’s been a lot of talk about

the game,” Copeland said, “and how

they went out and beat Hendersonlast week.”

This has had a big impact on thealumni of Alvarado High School aswell. Secretaries at the schools havenoticed people coming in to pur-chase game tickets who staff havenot seen in more than 20 years.

“I’m so excited!” said AaronSchultz, a 2006 AHS graduate.“[I’ve] already got my tickets, in-cluding one for my dad and our ex-change student.”

Generationally speaking, thechildren of many of the alumni from

early classes in the 1980s and before

now have kids playing or attendingAlvarado schools. It has meant a lotto them, too.

Alvarado school board memberMike Percifield, a longtime residentof the town and part of the class of 1987, said it was hard to take it all inand absorb the reality of the Indiansin the championship game.

“We thought we had good teamsback then,” he said, “but nothingcompares to the talent they are put-ting on the field now.”

Percifield also heaped accolades

City of Alvarado rallying behind Indians’ journey to title

See CITY, Page 11


Alvarado quarterback Kenny West (18) handsthe ball off to Wayne Onderdonck (7) duringthe Indians’ 34-13 win over Henderson at Pen-nington Field.

Andrew

Tucker

Avery

Saenz

Colton

Moore

Nelson

Onwuzu

Alvarado Indians Tyler Chapel Hill Bulldogs



8 Times-review sporTs Thursday, december 8, 2011

By Zackcunningham

[email protected]

The Alvarado Indians havehad a history-making 2011 sea-son and have set a new schoolrecord for victories in a seasonwith 14.

Alvarado can make it 15with a win over Tyler ChapelHill on Friday at Cowboys Sta-dium when the Indians play intheir first-ever state champion-ship game.

Here’s a look back at theseason:

Game 1Alvarado 42, Robinson 27

Alvarado’s opening contestagainst the Robinson Rocketsproved to be its toughest so far.

Robinson jumped out to anearly 6-0 lead after quarterbackCarson Earp fired a seven-yardtouchdown pass to Dalton Conewith 3:57 left in the first quarter.

Lee Hardy brought Alvaradoback with a 22-yard touchdownrun to make it 7-6, but Robinsonregained a 12-6 advantage whenEarp found Alex Rogers on aneight-yard touchdown pass.

Alvarado took the lead forgood on a 25-yard touchdownrun by Wayne Onderdonck, hisfirst of four touchdown runs.

Robinson closed to within28-20 in the fourth quarter, butOnderdonck and Hardy helpedseal the deal with late touch-down runs. Onderdonck fin-ished with 364 rushing yards on27 carries.

Game 2Alvarado 26, Springtown 0

The Alvarado Indianspitched a shutout on the roadagainst Springtown andflexed their muscles throughthe air in a 26-0 win.

Kenny West was 11-of-20for 196 yards and three touch-down passes, and Wayne On-derdonck rushed 24 times for193 yards and a score. TheIndians picked off Spring-town five times and surren-dered just 286 yards of of-fense.

Austin Ellinger caughtfour passes for 69 yards andtwo scores. Tyler Bates

caught five passes for 97yards and a touchdown.

Game 3Alvarado 28, Prosper 7

Outsized and outnum-bered, the Alvarado Indianswere not fazed by rival Pros-per at home as the Indiansoutwitted the much-biggerEagles in a 28-7 win.

Kenny West tossed twotouchdown passes to TylerBates totaling 115 yardsthrough the air, and Bates re-turned an interception 42

yards for a touchdown as theIndians cruised at CharlesHead Memorial Stadium.

Wayne Onderdonck addeda 2-yard touchdown run in thethird quarter to seal the game.

He finished with 87 yards on21 carries and the Alvaradodefense limited Prosper to

just 59 yards through the airand 230 yards of total of-fense.

Game 4Alvarado 39, Bridgeport 20

The Indians survived achippy game against Bridge-port thanks to 281 rushingyards and three touchdownsfrom Wayne Onderdonck.Kenny West went 9-of-21 for127 yards and his late 34-yardtouchdown pass to Austin El-linger sealed the win.

Lee Hardy and Marcus Mc-Neil added rushing touch-downs as Alvarado churned out406 yards on the ground.

The Indians trailed, 7-0, af-ter Bridgeport opened with a71-yard touchdown hook up

from Colby Mahon to GarrettMullins.

Game 5Alvarado 37, Waco Connally 6

In a battle of unbeatens,the Indians proved to be thebetter undefeated team athome against Waco Connally.Wayne Onderdonck rushedfor 133 yards on 23 carriesand two touchdowns. KennyWest tossed a 77-yard touch-down to Tyler Bates andrushed for another score asthe Indians only surrendered

a 22-yard interception returnfor a score in the final frame.Marcus McNeil added a

45-yard touchdown as timewound down in the fourthquarter.

Game 6Alvarado 55, Kennedale 0

This contest was far differ-ent than the 2010 edition whenAlvarado squeaked out a 35-34victory in the closing seconds.In the 2011 edition, Alvaradolimited Kennedale to 37 total

yards of offense.The Indians had 18 first

downs to Kennedale’s two. Al-varado piled up 483 yards of total offense. Wayne Onder-donck rushed 17 times for 227yards and two touchdowns.Kennedale fumbled five timesand lost three.

Lee hardy rushed for twotouchdowns and Kenny Westthrew two and ran for another.

Game 7Alvarado 50, Hillsboro 0

Alvarado allowed just four

yards of offense in a 50-0 routof Hillsboro to open District8-3A play.

The Indians were led on of-fense by Wayne Onderdonckwho had 173 yards on 18 car-ries and two scores. Lee Hardyadded a 41-yard touchdownrun and Tyler Bates and Mi-chael Vanderhoff each hadtouchdown receptions.

Bates also returned a punt25 yards for the score and JaredMcCarver had a late touch-down run. Austin Ellingerkicked a 33-yard field goal inthe second quarter.

Game 8Alvarado 71, Venus 0

The Indians kept theirscoreless streak alive in Dis-trict 8-3A play with a rout of the Indians. Tyler Bates re-turned two punts for touch-downs and took a kickoff to thehouse in the blowout victory.

Andrew Leger had a six-yard scoring run, Xavier Hol-bert returned an interceptionfor a touchdown and LeeHardy added touchdown runsof five, 11 and two yards. Aus-tin Ellinger had a 75-yardtouchdown reception fromKenny West.

Marcus McNeil added a 21-yard touchdown run in thethird quarter.

Game 9Alvarado 63, West 6

Though they finished 0-10,the West Trojans became the

first team to score on Alvarado’svaunted defense in a 63-6 loss.

West scored on an 85-yardkickoff return by Coy Schier.

Other than that, it was all In-dians. Alvarado surrendered just19 yards of total offense andWayne Onderdonck piled up210 yards on nine carries. Hescored three times.

Tyler Bates had a 48-yardinterception return for a touch-down and added a 10-yard runlater in the game.

Game 10

Alvarado 37, Glen Rose 9

Glen Rose put a scare intoAlvarado for three quarters inthe de facto District 8-3A cham-pionship game at Alvarado byforcing the Indians into four in-terceptions.

Glen Rose led, 3-0, after thefirst quarter and took a 9-8 leadin the third before the Indiansrallied with a 29 points in thesecond half.

Onderdonck gashed the Ti-gers’ defense with 312 rushingyards on 30 carries.

Kenny West’s one-yardtouchdown run in the thirdbroke the game open. Onder-donck scored in the fourth and

Tyler Bates and West added twomore scores in the final frame tohelp the Indians pull away.

Game 11Alvarado 69, Mineral Wells 6

The Indians rolled overMineral Wells in a rematch of

the 2010 Class 3A first roundplayoffs.

Wayne Onderdonck topped200 yards rushing again and theIndians turned a close game inthe first half into a blowout withbig plays in every facet of thegame.

Tyler Bates caught a touch-down pass, returned a punt for atouchdown and blocked an ex-tra point in the win.

Game 12Alvarado 31, Abilene Wylie 0

Alvarado’s defense contin-ued its domination of playoff opponents at Birdville Stadiumin the second round of the Class3A Division I playoffs as the In-dians limited Wylie to just 104yards of total offense.

Wayne Onderdonck tallied226 rushing yards and LeeHardy managed 100 yards on10 carries. The Indians used a21-points second quarter tobreak open a close game in thefirst quarter.

Onderdonck rushed for ascore, Lee Hardy had a rushingtouchdown and Kenny Westrushed for a score and tossed a10-yard touchdown to AustinEllinger.

Game 13Alvarado 42, Seminole 7

A four-hour drive into thebadlands of West Texas didn’tfaze Alvarado in their drive toreturn to the state semifinals andneither did Seminole’s powerfuloffense.

Alvarado’s defense again re-sponded with a stellar effort,limiting speedy Jarod Adamsand Seminole’s spread offenseto just 190 yards.

Alvarado’s defense forcedfour turnovers, two intercep-tions and two fumbles, in thewin.

Wayne Onderdonck had 196rushing yards in the first half and finished with 223 yards on31 carries and finished withthree touchdowns.

Tight end Michael Vander-hoff caught two passes, both forscores, as the Indians’ kept

Seminole off guard through theair, going 5-for-5 for 69 yards.

Game 14Alvarado 34, Henderson 13

Billed as “the rematch,” theAlvarado Indians wasted littletime jumping on the team thatknocked them out of the statesemifinals last year.

Alvarado jumped out to anearly 13-0 lead as the Indiansstruck first through the air. An-drew Leger and Austin Ellingereach caught touchdown passesto open the floodgates and Mar-

cus McNeil picked off a flea-flicker pass on Henderson’s firstplay from scrimmage to set thetone.

Alvarado’s swarming de-fense, led by Xavier Holbertand C.J. Johnson, harassedquarterback LaBradford Barnesall night, forcing two fumblesand two interceptions.

The Indians limited Hen-derson’s offense, which camein averaging 45 points a game,to just six heading into thefourth quarter. The victory pro-pelled Alvarado into the statechampionship game for thefirst time in school history andset a new single-season recordfor wins at 14.

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A game-by-game look at Alvarado’s 2011 season


Alvarado Indians celebrate their second consecutive Class 3A Division I regional championship after defeating Henderson 34-13 at Pennington Field. TheIndians (14-0) take on Tyler Chapel Hill at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Cowboys Stadium for the state championship.


Marcus Villarreal, left, and Brazos Fuller (99) combine for atackle during Alvarado’s 37-9 win over Glen Rose.





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Good luck at state Alvarado Indians.We are all very proud of your accomplishments this season.

By Zack cunningham

[email protected]

Alvarado’s secondary has beeninstrumental in steering the Indiansto 14 straight wins this season.

Seniors Tyler Bates, XavierHolbert and junior Marcus McNeilhave 18 of Alvarado’s 24 intercep-tions and the speedy ball-hawkersare ready for more errant throws tocome their way in the state champi-onship game on Friday at CowboysStadium against Tyler Chapel Hill.

Holbert has five of those picks

and he had a critical one last weekin the Indians’ 34-13 win over Hen-derson.

“It’s been fun,” Holbert said.“There aren’t many [secondaries]like us. We’re a very rare crew.

“We usually don’t run the cov-erage right, but when we see theball in the air, we know it’s ours. Ithelps when you have the defensiveline like we have because then thequarterback can’t set his feet.We’re athletes back there.”

Holbert said forcing turnoversin the early stages of the game iscritical to swinging momentum inthe Indians’ favor. And that’s what

they did on Friday night againstHenderson when McNeil pickedoff Henderson’s LaBradfordBarnes on the first play from scrim-mage.

“It’s real important because if you let them get the momentum,they’re very athletic and very fast,”he said. “When Marcus go the pick,all their heads dropped and weknew the offense was going to getthem.”

Holbert takes exception to thesuggestion that Alvarado lacks thesame “East Texas speed” that Hen-derson and Chapel Hill supposedlypossess.

“I don’t know why people saywe don’t have the speed to keepup,” he said. “We have great speedon defense and everyone runs a 4.5or 4.6 40-yard time. I don’t knowwhere they get this idea.

“We have very fast outside line-backers and we’re very fast at the

safety position.”Indeed, Abilene’s own David

Robinett from KTAB/KRBC news

called Alvarado “silly fast” on de-fense.Holbert said he isn’t making the

journey to Cowboys Stadium “justto see the TV.”

“It’s surreal right now,” he said.“I want to win. It means nothing if you don’t go get your rings.”

McNeil, the self-proclaimed“pup” of the secondary (and “themouth of the team” according toHolbert) said he’s glad for the sec-ond opportunity to go deep in theplayoffs.

“Last year as a sophomore, Iwas in the same position as theseseniors now,” he said. “It knocked

us down a bit losing to Hendersonlast year, but it gave us motivationto get to the same spot we are atnow.”

McNeil said he’s not afraid of “East Texas speed.”

“I’ve heard a lot about it, butI’m still wondering what it is,” Mc-

Neil said. “We played East Texasspeed and they scored 13 points.”

Bates, who has eight picks this

year and had 11 last year, poked

fun at his younger teammate.The two collided on the first

pick of the Henderson game, but

McNeil came up with the ball.

“I was surprised he caught it,”Bates said. “But it’s been great togo undefeated and we’ve got towork hard at getting better.”

Bates is frequently tasked withguarding the opposition’s best ortallest receiver. Against AbileneWylie, Bates, who stands 5-7,guarded 6-5 wideout RichardBloomed and delivered a punishinghit and also recorded another inter-ception.

“That’s what he’s known for,”Holbert pitched in.

Bates is a threat anywhere and

everywhere on the field. He’s Al-varado’s leading receiver with 575yards on 19 catches (an average of 30 yards per catch) and sevenscores. He’s rushed for three touch-downs and thrown for two more.He’s returned four punts for scoresand a kickoff for a touchdown.

“Honestly, we thought as longas we beat Henderson this year,that was our dream,” he said. “Nowwe have unfinished business totake care of. I’m looking forwardto the big day and I know they’reathletic, but we said that aboutHenderson.

“It’ll be a big challenge and

we’ll come out victorious.”

Indians’ speedy secondary propels Alvarado’s defense


Alvarado’s Tyler Bates reaches for an interception during the Indians’ 37-9 win over Glen Rose at CharlesHead Memorial Stadium. The win clinched the District 8-3A title.


Alvarado’s speedy defense limited Henderson to 13 points in its win at Pennington Field.





By John henry

and Zack cunningham


ALVARADO — Onemight understand if Alvaradoreceivers sometimes feel as if they’re the invisible men.

In a run-based offense

such as the Indians’, the re-ceivers can sometimes feelforgotten.

Not seniors Daniel Pinker-ton and Austin Ellinger, whoboth know and embrace their

roles: make room where theycan for running back WayneOnderdonck.

“We just have to block forWayne, and when your num-ber is called you just have tomake a play,” Pinkerton said.

They’re actually hardlyforgotten, both playing cru-

cial roles in the Indians’march to the Class 3A statechampionship game.

Ellinger has 22 receptionsfor 413 yards and seventouchdowns. Pinkerton has

175 yards on 13 catches.“He’s not one of those

showtime running backs whotries to take all the credit,”Pinkerton said of Onder-donck. “He thanks every-body.

“We’ve all been togetherfor a pretty long time, but

Wayne is very appreciativefor what we do for him.”

For CoachPlayers are quick to an-

swer when asked who their

biggest football influencesare.

Tony Romo? Adrian Pe-terson? Troy Polamalu?

No. No. And … No.“We look up to our

coaches,” said senior wide re-ceiver Daniel Pinkerton.“They show us respect, they

treat us like adults.”Coach Jeff Dixon has the

credibility of experience. Hehas been a part of state-cham-pionship winning teams atKaty and Southlake Carroll.

This is his first as a headcoach. His players want it forhim.

“Coach Dixon has beenthere before,” junior LeeHardy said. “He knows howto win. He knows what to ex-pect from us, and we knowwhat to expect from him.”

Pinkerton said, “We trustthe coaches; they trust us to

perform.”

Bonding timeAlvarado doesn’t practice

on the field on Thursdaysduring the season.

But they do spend the af-ternoon building the mutualtrust and fellowship everychampionship-caliber team

possesses.“Thursday afternoons we

try to get the whole team to-gether and go out to eat,” said

junior fullback Lee Hardy.Generally 15 to 20 gath-

ered each week to do whatfootball players do best: eat.

Old-schoolCount Alvarado players

and cheerleaders among thosewho turn their nose to thefashionable inflated tunnelsmany teams run through totake the field at the beginningof the game and third quarter.

“Our run-through signsare painted by the cheerlead-ers,” Lee Hardy said proudly.“All these other schools havethese big, inflatable tunnels,fog machines and fireworks.

“We’re not all trying to befancy like them. We have theclassic run-through sign to try

to keep tradition.”Said Daniel Pinkerton:

“We’re just there to play thegame.”

Tickets remain on saleTickets to the Class 3A

state championship game re-main on sale at Cactus Jack’s,Alvarado High School, Al-

varado Junior High and theAlvarado ISD AdministrationBuilding. Prices are $10 foradults and $7 for students(children 1 year and older re-quire a ticket).

Tickets will remain onsale until noon Friday. Onlycash is accepted, and there is

a limit of six adult and fourstudents tickets per person.

All tickets are $15 at thegame. Parking is $10 per carand $50 per bus or RV. Gatesopen at 6 p.m.

BrieflyChapel Hill has trailed in

the fourth quarter the pastthree games. The Bulldogshad to fight back to claim vic-tories against Waco La Vega,Navasota and West Columbia.

Alvarado’s potent offen-sive in all likelihood will getopportunities against Chapel

Hill, which has given up anaverage of slightly more than21 points per game. Alvaradohas given up only about atouchdown per game, includ-ing just a little more than afield goal the last 10 games.Chapel Hill’s offense has av-eraged about 44 points pergame.

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ALVARADO — Contri-butions from unlikely sourceshave made Alvarado’s seasonof Remember Henderson aseason to remember.

Three sophomores, in-cluding cornerback AndrewLeger, have more than sup-plemented the redemptionplans of the Indians, who areon the brink of claiming Al-varado’s first team title since

the high school opened in1910.Leger and defensive line-

man Brazos Fuller have forti-fied the defense, and AndrewSevener is key cog in the of-fensive line.

Leger came to two-a-daysin August expecting to be arunning back, which he still isfrom time to time. Coaches,however, saw a need at cor-ner.

“I said, ‘Yes, sir, I’ll doit’,” Leger said when thecoaches asked about his inter-est in the position in the de-

fensive secondary. “If theyask me to do something, I’lldo it for my team.”

Leger has stood up to theburden of playing with Tyler

Bates on the other side. Asopponents stayed away from

the dangers of throwing at theClass 3A star, quarterbackslooked the other way, wherethey saw a what appeared tobe a green, inexperienced

rookie.Leger has two intercep-

tions, including a key pickoff in the Class 3A state quarter-finals against Seminole, and25 tackles.

As a team, the Indians

have been very opportunistic.They’ve recovered 23 fum-

bles and have 24 intercep-tions on the season. That’s anaverage of more than threeturnovers a game.

“They try to pick on his

side because Tyler is on theother side of the field,” saidDaniel Pinkerton, a seniorteammate. “And he goes outthere and makes plays justlike Tyler does.

That’s not exactly an acci-dent. In addition to ability, thesophomore said he and hisyouthful classmates workedhard to be ready to play thisyear. In all, six sophomoresmade varsity.

Motivation for Legercame in the form of Head

Coach Jeff Dixon’s tellinghim he’d be a varsity memberlast spring.

“So, I had to start workingharder in the off-season,” saidLeger, who readily admits hewas a nervous wreck in hisfirst varsity action againstWaco Robinson. “The juniors[now seniors] pushed us veryhard.

“Every day after schoolwe worked out even though itwasn’t our day to work out.We strived to get better.”

And improve, the varsityrookies did, older teammatesall agree.

“They really rose to theoccasion,” Pinkerton said.“Brazos is a hoss. Sevener,he’s one of the smallest offen-

sive linemen in the state andhe just goes out there andhammers people.

Leger will more thanlikely get more chances toplay offense in the comingyears. He has 150 yards on 32carries and two touchdownsin backing up Wayne Onder-donck.

“I think it’s a privilege andI take advantage of that privi-lege,” Leger said of hischance to play. “And I thankall my coaches for allowing

me to switch over to de-fense.”With redemption in the

can, the Indians are now afterhistory.

To make it, they’ll have tocontain another athletic teamthat thrives on big plays withthe pass.

Like all the others, TylerChapel Hill will probably tryto stay away from Bates,whose reputation as a play-maker at this level is as com-mon knowledge as the sunrising in the east.

“Since Week 1 we’ve beencausing turnovers,” Legersaid. “Chapel Hill is knownto cough up the football andwe’re going to take advantageas much as we can.”

Super sophomore spurs state title surge


Alvarado’s Andrew Leger, left, hauls in a four-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Bates dur-ing the Indians’ 34-13 win over Henderson.

Briefs about the game





(27-20) and Navasota (56-46).

“It’s definitely been ex-

citing for us as coaches,”Chapel Hill’s Thomas Sittonsaid. “It’s been nice for us toplay 15 games for the lasttwo years.”

Sitton said it’s been asoul-searching journey forhis team since last year’sdisappointing ending, butadded the Bulldogs and theirpowerful spread offense areready to reclaim what theysee as theirs.

“We’ve found a way toget it done every week,” hesaid. “We’re very fortunateto get to go back and play in

this thing again this year.“We’re able to take what-

ever the defense gives us onoffense. If they’re stoppingthe run, we can throw it.We’ve got some kids whoplay real hard and our offen-sive line plays hard. Ourskill kids do a good job andour quarterback makesthings happen.”

Chapel Hill piled up morethan 7,200 yards of offensethis season and averagesmore than 500 yards of of-fense per game.

The Bulldogs have 4,401

rushing yards behind JayReagan (135 carries for1,074 yards and 19 touch-downs), Andrew Tucker(1,009 yards on 105 carriesand 11 scores) and Rex Roll-ins (929 yards on 101 carriesand eight scores).

Quarterback Avery Saenzcompleted 93-of-141 passesfor 1,584 yards and 18touchdowns to just four in-terceptions. He was injuredearlier in the year and An-thony Kincade filled in bythrowing for 1,201 yards on74-of-107 passing for nine

scores and five picks.“All of them can run,”Dixon said. “They’ve gotthree with nearly 1,000 yardsrushing and they just keeprolling them in.”

Dixon vowed Alvarado

will find a way to pressureSaenz in the backfield.

“Coach [Eddie] Hatchand our defensive staff do agreat job on the defensivegameplan,” Dixon said.“They can find a weaknessand exploit it. You can bet

we’ll find a way to causepressure on the quarter-back.”

Chapel Hill’s leading re-ceiver is Nelson Onwuzuwith 919 yards on 49 catchesand eight scores.

“Jay is more of our speedguy,” Sitton said. “He’s not areal big kid, but he runs hardand fast and can acceleratequickly. Andrew is a biggerkid, about 190 pounds andhas great vision. He’s hard totackle and he can run as fastwith pads on as he can with-out pads.”

Sitton said Onwuzu has a“knack for going and gettingthe football.”

“He’s had some greatcatches throughout the year,”Sitton said. “He had the

catch against West Columbiawhich won the game. He’s agreat route runner.”

Sitton paid respect to Al-varado and called the Indi-ans “the best team we’llhave played all season long.”

“I think they’re playing

great football,” he said.“They’re definitely the bestteam we’ve seen on videothis year. They don’t makemany mistakes so we can’thave any unnecessary turn-overs or penalties.

“They’re very well-coached and they play disci-plined. We’ve got to be ableto stop the run. Their back isa great runner and very pa-tient. He’s very strong andhard to tackle so we’ve gotto do a good job and getsome bodies on him.”

The Indians’ smashmouth

style of football led them towithin a game of the school’sfirst-ever state champion-ship. This Indians’ squad isthe school’s winningest eversince Alvarado went 13-1 in

1995.Alvarado’s defense

stepped up in last week’s 34-13 win over Henderson andforced four Lion turnoverswhile holding Henderson’spowerful offense to just 274yards of total offense with

94 of those coming on ascoring drive late in thegame with the outcome al-ready decided.

Alvarado led, 34-6, in thefourth quarter.

Dixon said he expectsChapel Hill to focus on On-derdonck first and foremost.

“That’s what we’ve seenall year, but when you rollyour safeties down, we canhurt you with Austin El-linger, Tyler Bates and Dan-iel Pinkerton, to name afew,” Dixon said. “You kindof have to pick your poison

on that.“I definitely feel like

they’re going to load thebox. That’s what we’ve seenall year and I’d be shocked if we didn’t see it again.”

Cactus JACK’s Got Your Back!

Good Luck ...

State bound

statecont. from pg. 1

Alvarado’sKenny West(18) is tackledduring the In-dians’ 63-6win overWest earlierthis season.

Courtesy photo/

Julie Holland

Chapel Hill’s running game is led by Jay Reagan, An-drew Tucker and Rex Rollins. Reagan has scored 19touchdowns and rushed for more than 1,000 yards. He av-erages about eight yards per carry.

Not to be outdone, Tucker has scored 11 touchdowns,also rushed for more than 1,000 yards and is a threat in theBulldog passing attack, averaging 23 yards per reception.Tucker also plays defense at linebacker and has double-digit tackles for a loss this season.

Rollins has added eight touchdowns and rushed formore than 900 yards.

The offensive line boasts three first-team all-districtlinemen which is why the backs have had so much suc-

cess.On defense, the Bulldogs are led by two standout play-ers. The defensive line is anchored by Colton Moorehead,a first-team all-state selection last season. Moorehead hasmore than 110 tackles to go along with eight sacks.

Roaming the secondary is the Bulldogs’ DeaveronDean, an all-state defensive back. Dean has made 73 tack-les and has seven interceptions.

The Bulldogs defense has been solid all year. However,if there is one chink in the armor, it might that the Bull-dogs allow about 22 points a game. It doesn’t sound likemuch but considering Alvarado gives up slightly morethan seven points a game, the game might certainly turn onthe play of the two defenses.

In the playoffs, the Bulldogs have given up a touch-down more on average than during the regular season.

The Bulldogs are quick on both sides of the ball. Of-

fensively, they run out of a spread formation and like toemploy screens and crossing patterns. They are balanced;however, and use both running and passing to move theball. They use their speed to get into space and makeplays.

On defense, the Bulldogs use their speed to swarm tothe ball and close quickly on runners.

Bulldogscont. from pg. 7

on the Indian coaching staff.“The coaches just don’t

coach. They mentor and tu-tor these kids. They wantthem to know there’s moreto life than just a game. Thisteam has truly drawn thiscommunity together and weare excited to see the gameon Friday.”

More than 30 years agothere was a hockey gameplayed on a sheet of ice inLake Placid, a game be-tween the U.S. and the So-viet Union. Of the game and

the following of Team USA,Al Michaels stated there

were people watching thisgame who didn’t “... know ablue line from a clothes-line.”

The Alvarado Indianshave garnered quite a fol-lowing this past month.Some probably know foot-ball like the back of theirhands, while others mightbe less educated in therealms of football vernacu-lar.

It’s irrelevant at thispoint. The Indians have cer-tainly captured the heart of atown and will have several

thousand fans in their cor-ner.

citycont. from pg. 7

Courtesy photo

Purple ribbons and bows circle pillars at Alvarado CityHall in support of the Indians.





Rocky Biggs Insurance is the home of

4 generations of alvarado

Alvarado Medicine Chest420 Hwy 67 W • Alvarado • (817) 790-3355

M-F: 8:00am - 7:00pm, Sat: 8:00am - 2:00pm

GO

BIG A!

WE’VEGOTFOOTBALLFEVER!

Go, Team!Good Luck to the Alvarado Indians!

Jameye Jones

817-614-6574

2011 alvarado indians

Alvarado 42, Robinson 27Alvarado 26, Springtown 0Alvarado 28, Prosper 7Alvarado 39, Bridgeport 20Alvarado 37, Waco Connally 6*Alvarado 55, Kennedale 0*Alvarado 50, Hillsboro 0*Alvarado 71, Venus 0*Alvarado 63, West 6*Alvarado 37, Glen Rose 9Alvarado 69, Mineral Wells 6Alvarado 31, Abilene Wylie 0Alvarado 42, Seminole 7Alvarado 34, Henderson 13

*Denotes District 8-3A contest Playoff games are bolded

2011 tyler chapel hill Buldogs

Chapel Hill 74, Westwood 23

Chapel Hill 59, Whitehouse 49Chapel Hill 21, Carthage 20Chapel Hill 29, Hallsville 22Chapel Hill 51, Lindale 29Chapel Hill 45, Center 17*Chapel Hill 50, Bullard 6*Chapel Hill 49, Brownsboro 21*Chapel Hill 51, Rusk 7*Chapel Hill 64, Athens 7Chapel Hill 70, Jasper 28Chapel Hill 27, Waco La Vega 20Chapel Hill 56, Navasota 46Chapel Hill 21, West Columbia 16

*Denotes District 17-3A contest Playoff games are bolded

By John henry


ALVARADO — Playoff football in Texas is as differ-ent as summer and winter.Literally.

The season that startedwith two-a-days in 100-plusdegree weather is now beingplayed in weather with tem-peratures in the 30s on Texas’biggest stage, Cowboys Sta-dium.

Welcome to championshipfootball in Texas.

Both elements have pre-cipitated adjustments for the

Alvarado football team,which meets Tyler ChapelHill at 7:30 p.m. Friday at thefamed site in Arlington.

Alvarado players have hadto make adjustments thisweek to stay out of the wind-driven cold.

Practice Monday andTuesday took place at the in-door facilities of BurlesonCentennial and Kennedale.

“The way we prepare is al-ways the same,” wide re-ceiver Daniel Pinkerton said.“No matter where you are thefield is still 100 yards long.”

Fullback Lee Hardy aptlynoted that it’s not much dif-ferent than walking into

school on cold days.

“We just dress up a littlemore,” Hardy said.Climate won’t be an issue

on Friday. The game will beplayed indoors at CowboysStadium.

Playing at the home of America’s Team is anotherdynamic. The Indians’ home,Charles Head Stadium, seats2,500. Cowboys Stadium hasa seating capacity of 80,000

with room for more than100,000.

Toto, we’re not in Al-varado anymore.

“I always told my dad I’dbe playing for the Cowboys,”wide receiver Austin Ellingersaid. “This is probably asclose as I’ll get.

“It’s pretty exciting.”To date this season, San

Angelo Stadium is the larg-est venue for an Indiansgame this season.

“I think it’s just anotherballgame,” Hardy said. “We

got to go out and perform

and don’t let it get to ourheads.Said Ellinger: “After you

get on the field, it’s just an-other field. You just have todo your job.”

The Indians have at-tracted capacity crowds thisseason. Suffice to say, therewon’t be 80,000 on hand Fri-day.

Alvarado has a following,nonetheless.

As Ellinger and Pinkertonsaid, “it feels great to havepeople supporting us.”

“It doesn’t feel like justour parents or school is sup-porting us,” Pinkerton said.“It feels like the whole townis there.”

Former foes are on thisbandwagon, too. They’llprobably even buy a ticket.

Alvarado players saidthey’ve heard from District8-3A rivals in Kennedale andelsewhere on the Internet.It’s all good, too. They’re onAlvarado’s side this time.

“I’ve talked to a couple of Kennedale players,” Pinker-ton said. “They’re really sup-porting us.

“The teams we’ve playedhave nothing but respect forus.”

Weather not a problem for big game ALVARADO VS.

TYLER CHAPEL HILL

7:30 p.m. Friday atCowboys Stadium

RECORDS: Alvarado is 14-0;Chapel Hill is 14-0.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Al-varado — WR Andrew Leger;WR Austin Ellinger; DB MarcusMcNeil. Chapel Hill — WR Nel-son Onwuzu; RB Jay Reagan;RB Andrew Tucker.

KEY STATISTICS: This is thefirst state championship game forAlvarado. The Indians set a newschool record for wins in a sea-son (14) after last week’s 34-13win over Henderson. The Indiansdefense surrendered just 26

points in the playoffs.Chapel Hill made the statechampionship game last year butlost, 22-17, to Henderson. TheBulldogs average 47 points pergame and more than 500 yards ofoffense. They beat West Colum-bia, 21-16, with 13 seconds re-maining in the state semifinals.

COACHES: Alvarado — JeffDixon. Chapel Hill - Thomas Sit-ton.

DIRECTIONS: Take Interstate35-West north to I-30 East andexit 51C towards Dallas.

Exit to Farm-to-Market Road

157 and head south. Turn righton East Randol Mill Road.

“we’ll be going 100 mph,so the temperature is goingto be pretty high.”

-—-Andrew-Leger,-on-if-the-

cold-temperatures-will-affect-the-Alvarado-Indians

in their words

“I’m trying not to get caught up in all thehype. We’ve still got a job to do. We needto keep getting better and there’s no pointin us being there if we’re not going to winit, in my opinion.”

— running back Wayne Onderdonck

“We usually don’t run the coverage right,but when we see the ball in the air, weknow it’s ours.”

— defensive back Xavier Holbert

“We work hard everyday. Since two-a-days, we’ve been working really hard forthis moment. So we’re gonna go out thereand do what we need to do.”

— cornerback Andrew Leger

“The coaches just don’t coach. Theymentor and tutor these kids. They wantthem to know there’s more to life than justa game.”

— AISD board member Mike Percifield

“We all know each other, and we go outeveryday and work hard. Pretty muchmake everybody better.”

— fullback Lee Hardy

“It’s just another game at a big stage.Playing in big places you have to playbig.”

— wide receiver Daniel Pinkerton


Documents

Alvarado State Championship