Kennedale’s season ends as Alvarado advances in playoffs for first time since 2019
For the first time since 2019, Alvarado is moving on in the Texas high school football playoffs.
The Indians escaped with a 49-27 victory over Kennedale on Thursday night in a game that was much closer than the final score.
A pivotal special teams play – in a pouring down rain – provided the spark that Alvarado needed to snap the Wildcats’ seven-game winning streak in a neutral site game played at Crowley ISD Stadium.
To set the stage, Alvardo had regained the lead in a back-and-forth contest on a 16-yard run by Demarcus Belton with 23 seconds left in the third quarter. The extra point made it 34-27.
Then perhaps the biggest play in a game full of big plays happened.
Lawrence Hodge fielded the kick for Kennedale (7-4) and ran toward his sideline. He got an opening and appeared to be on his way for a touchdown that could tie the game.
Sophomore DJ Clampitt, who missed the initial tackle chance, tracked down Hodge and punched the ball out. It rolled forward about 15 yards before the Indians fell on it at the 20-yard line.
“We’ve preached it all year that special teams will get you beat against good teams, in close games and in the playoffs,” Alvarado coach Casey Walraven said. “We were fortunate it didn’t happen. We took advantage of it (the turnover) and we really executed well offensively all night.”
Kennedale coach Richard Barrett – who gave Walraven his first job out of college – praised the hard effort by Clampitt.
“You gotta give No. 8 (Clampitt) a lot of credit because; he could’ve quit and not follow but he runs back and catches him and tomahawks it out,” Barrett said. “That’s what Alvarado does; they play hard and play to the whistle.”
Twelve plays after the fumble, the Indians found the end zone again, a 4-yard run by Cardea Collier with 7:49 left. Collier had 139 yards on the ground for the Indians (7-4).
Collier, the junior who took a game day visit to North Texas last month, added a 59-yard run with 6:23 left to put the game out of reach. He passed for 180 yards as well, including a 65-yard touchdown pass to Belton, a 15-yarder to Logan Bjork and a 20-yard pass to Hunter Byerley.
The two teams met earlier this year and Alvarado rolled to a 47-7 win.
Walraven admitted he wasn’t surprised by the adjustments made by the Wildcats and their Wing-T offense.
Hodge, the quarterback, led the rushing attack of misdirection with a man in motion and trap runs going the opposite direction of the defense early on.
Laurrence Watkins had a 2-yard run in the first quarter and after an interception by Tyler Greenfield at the 22-yard line, Hodge ran in for a 4-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats a temporary 13-7 lead. After Alvarado tied it, Josh Cornwell’s 21-yard gave made it 20-13 in favor of Kennedale.
Kennedale tied the game at 27-27 following a 3-yard run by Jeremiah Clea. That was set up by a bad snap on a punt, which cost the Indians 20 yards and gave Kennedale the ball at the 2.
“He came out and made a lot of adjustments,” Walraven said of Barrett, who won his 250th game earlier this season. “I knew he was going to make it tough for us and he certainly did. I’m proud of kids for stepping up and winning the bi-district championship.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2023 at 1:32 AM.