High School

Texas high school football player has 10-touchdown game

Alvarado QB Cardea Collier 'knew everything was clicking' early in 71-50 shootout with Glen Rose in Week 5

Andy Buhler

Alvarado quarterback Cardea Collier passes during a bi-district game against Kennedale at Crowley ISD Multipurpose Stadium in a Texas high school playoff game in 2023. | Photo by Cody Thorn
Alvarado quarterback Cardea Collier passes during a bi-district game against Kennedale at Crowley ISD Multipurpose Stadium in a Texas high school playoff game in 2023. | Photo by Cody Thorn /

Cardea Collier put together a masterpiece of a performance in a Texas high school football game on Friday night.

The Alvarado High School quarterback accounted for 606 total yards and 10 touchdowns in a 71-50 win over Glen Rose to move to 5-0 on the season ahead of 4A District 6 play.

He connected on 16 of 22 attempts for 277 passing yards and two touchdowns opposite two picks, then turned 18 carries into 329 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground.

It seemed everything was working for the 5-foot-10, 150-pound senior.

Collier broke off a 60-yard touchdown and another from six yards out within a two-minute span late in the first quarter. He added a three-yard and another 60-yard scoring run in the second quarter to put Alvarado up 41-21 at halftime.

Collier said he wasn't too tired after a game he did so much in, pointing to his strong conditioning.

"After the first long run, I got to find my legs and I had a feeling it was going to be a good night," Collier said.

"I knew everything was clicking once the line started to win battles up front, and also our receivers getting their blocks, trusting in me to make a play with my feet and in the air going into such a highly-anticipated game like it was last night."

He had another rushing touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to give Alvarado a three-touchdown cushion.

It's been that kind of season for the multi-year standout.

Though four games, he'd thrown for 1,149 yards, 11 TDs and four interceptions on a 70.3 percent completion rate. He also entered Friday's game having already rushed for more than 100 yards per game and 10 more touchdowns.

Collier helped Alvarado to a turnaround season in 2023, rattling off a 7-5 record and a playoff win after three straight losing seasons. Alvarado returned 16 starters this fall and had the makings of a formidable playoff team.

SBLive identified Alvarado as one of the five most underrated teams in North Texas entering the season.

More Texas high school football Week 5:

SBLIVE SPORTS LAUNCHES HIGH SCHOOL ON SI

High School On SI will serve as the premier destination for high school sports fans, delivering unparalleled coverage of high school athletics nationwide through in-depth stories, recruiting coverage, rankings, highlights and much more. The launch of a dedicated high school experience expands Sports Illustrated’s reach to even more local communities as fans can now truly follow athletes from “preps to the pros” on a single platform, bringing them closer to the action than ever before.

For more information, visit si.com/high-school.

-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sblivetx

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Andy Buhler
ANDY BUHLER

Andy Buhler is a Portland, Oregon-based sportswriter with more than nine years of experience covering high school sports across the country. He's covered the likes of Paolo Banchero and Tari Eason, served on state tournament seeding committees and launched the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national boys basketball rankings. He has covered everything from the Final Four, MLS in Atlanta to local velodrome before diving into the world of preps. His bylines can be found in The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), The Associated Press, The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), The Oregonian and more. He holds a journalism degree from Gonzaga.

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