week one scores

Alvarado-Joshua racked up almost 400 yards rushing in a 34-13 win over host Alvarado in the season opener at Charles Head Stadium Friday night.

Joshua (1-0) and its ground-based Flex Bone attack tore through the AHS defense from the opening drive to the final whistle, piling up 395 rushing yards on 67 carries. JHS averaged 5.9 yards per carry on the night, scored five rushing touchdowns, and had a quartet of young men rush for at least 70 yards.

Senior running back Taji Matthews paced Joshua with 112 yards rushing on just 16 carries, and scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion. Senior Esteban Salas, in his third year as a varsity running back, added 104 yards on 19 carries and a score. Senior quarterback Brayden Payne (82 yards rushing, two touchdowns) and senior running back Joe Strother (71 yards rushing, one touchdown) also had big nights for the Owls, now 3-3 in six season openers under head coach Danny DeArman.

Defensively, Joshua was led by a trio of defensive backs. Senior safety Kade Boone recorded a team-high nine total tackles, seven of them solo efforts; he was also credited with two passes defended. Junior safety Lucas Black recorded seven tackles, as did sophomore cornerback Max Mata. Mata also recorded his first career interception in the fourth quarter, a play that definitively ended Alvarado’s slim chances of a 21-point comeback.

Joshua and Alvarado, district mates several times in the 20th century, were meeting for the first time in 17 years. The Owls won the previous two matchups in 2008 and 2009, and have won three in a row versus the Indians for the first time since the Johnson County neighbors started playing each other in 1949.

Joshua opens the home portion of its 2026 schedule on Friday, September 4th, against the Sherman Bearcats. It will be the first ever meeting between the programs, and kickoff is set for 7PM at Owl Stadium. Play-by-play of the game can be heard right here at OwlsOnTheAir.com.