Sports
Indians get another shot at Prosper
Alvarado head coach Jeff Dixon said his squad is ready for a rematch with the defending Class 3A Divison I state champions on Friday night.
After being eliminated by Prosper, 29-14, in the second round last year, Dixon said his team will have its work cut out for it again in 2009.
“It’s good to get back here,” Dixon said. “They’re a very solid, good team and they return a lot of defensive starters.
“Probably the strong suit of their team is their defense. They’re not as good on offense as they were a year ago.”
Senior linebacker Drew Miller, an all state selection in 2008, is the anchor of the Eagles defensive unit, Dixon said.
“He’s the strength of their team,” Dixon said.
Prosper will present a run-based offensive set similar to what the Indians base out of behind running backs Broam Hart, Wayne Onderdonk and Zach Ripley.
“They’re going to run the football,” Dixon said. “They don’t throw quite as much, but they still have the ability to do that. We’ve got to stop their run.
“Their tailback is pretty good and they do a lot of things offensively. They base out of the I-formation, but they can spread it out and change those formations.”
Dixon said the Eagles bear a resemblance to 12-3A rival Kennedale.
“We can’t turn the ball over,” Dixon said. “We can’t give them a short field. We did those things against Kennedale and we came up on the short end of that ball game.”
With Prosper’s defense representing a stiff challenge, Dixon said his team will need to maintain a disciplined approach and exercise patience.
“They’re very good and well coached,” Dixon said. “There are not really any flaws. They’re good all the way around, but we’ve got five guys offensively who can pose a problem.
“We’re better than we were at the beginning of the season and we’ve got playmakers. We just need to get the ball in their hands.”
Alvarado will need a repeat performance of the 338 rushing yards it churned out in Friday’s 63-0 victory over Fort Worth Castleberry.
The Indian defensive unit forced four turnovers in that win, and a similar performance would go a long way to securing an Alvarado berth in the regional finals.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Gopher Warrior Bowl in Grand Prairie.
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