Armando’s 4A Week 2 Matchup Preview: Alvarado @ Decatur

By Armando Barry•September 3, 2020•4 Minutes

On Friday, Sept. 4, the Decatur Eagles will host the Alvarado Indians in a non-conference game. Both teams suffered losses by a large margin in week one, which will be a motivating factor for two squads filled with multiple new faces.

While both teams are figuring out how to rejuvenate their brand of football under new leadership, these familiar foes have been a staple of each other’s non-conference schedule since the ‘12-13 football season.

In their eight year history, the Indians have historically won the matchup with five victories. However, the Eagles have won over the past three years by at least 7 points.

After coming off a 12-1 season, the Eagles lost the bulk of the offensive firepower that brought them all the way to the third round of the playoffs. Graduated seniors like QB Roman Fuller, RB Gunner Ragsdale, and WR Luke Harris were the top three contributors to a balanced Decatur offense that put up over 30 points a game last season.

In Decatur’s first matchup of the year, they were defeated 56-9 by the No. 2 ranked Argyle Eagles. Argyle’s experience showed on both sides of the ball, from a defense that forced 4 turnovers to an offense that threw 5 touchdowns at a 75% clip.

Alvarado is experiencing a situation very similar to Decatur, with multiple seniors graduating after their quarterfinal playoff run. However, their path to success has been vastly different than Decatur’s.

On the defensive end, Alvarado lost their top tackler in LB Alex Rodriguez. Along with that was a huge hit to their pass rushing with the loss of DE TJ Shackleford, who recorded 15 sacks in his 12 games played last season.

If I had to create a slogan for Alvarado’s brand of offense, it would be:

“We run together, we die together, Alvarado boys for life!”

All jokes aside, the Indian offense lives and dies by the run game. Last season, their star RB Colby Sampson rushed for over 2500 yards in his senior campaign. After the loss of Sampson, the Indians have still looked to garner their offensive production through smash mouth football.

In their first matchup of the season, the Indians fell to the Graham Steers 50-14. Out of there 275 yards gained on offense, 242 of them came from running the football.

What we have seen from the first showing of both teams is that they are sticking to their formula for success.

With that being said, here are my impact players for this game:

DECATUR

WR David Juarez
- Juarez paid his dues last season as a solid contributor in his role. Now a senior, he will be a top target for an offense that is unafraid of calling plays to send a bomb downfield.

ALVAREDO

Alvarado Running Game
- They will run it up the gut, toss it to one side, or use tricky handoffs to get something going. Whether or not they can achieve production against a Decatur defense that is bringing back experience in the secondary and linebacker positions will be the key factor in who wins this game.