Alvarado Comes Through on Dare

If there’s one player who’s fulfilling his potential and more this season, it’s Taft High junior quarterback Steve Alvarado.

Told in blunt terms during the summer that he wasn’t good enough to play quarterback, Alvarado has been a savior for the unbeaten Toreadors.

On Friday night, Alvarado passed for a career-high 318 yards and three touchdowns as Taft (7-0, 5-0 in league play) virtually locked up the Northwest Valley Conference title with a 42-14 victory over Birmingham (6-2, 3-2).

Birmingham’s strategy was simple: The Braves dared Alvarado to beat them with the pass. And that’s what he did.

“Keep on daring me,” he said afterward.

Alvarado completed his first eight passes of the second half, aided by an offensive line that gave up no sacks.

He completed 19 of 29 passes and has thrown for 1,138 yards and 12 touchdowns with just one pass intercepted this season.

“He picked us apart,” Birmingham defensive coordinator Jim Rose said. “I saw him early in the season. He looked young. He’s looking better every game. I give the kid credit.”

Alvarado was supported by an improving group of receivers. Dominic Early caught seven passes for 112 yards and Lawrence Wallace grabbed six passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

Alvarado’s development has been startling.

Taft Coach Troy Starr passed judgment on him during the summer, then changed his mind.

“Hey, my job is to take kids where they don’t think they can go,” Starr said. “He has a lot of mental toughness and we demand that from the quarterback.”

Alvarado is simply following the script of Nick DiPadova, Taft’s All-City quarterback from last season.

“I had a good example in Nick,” he said.

“I have a feeling how he played and I’m trying to feed off that.”

Alvarado’s steady improvement has added a new dimension to Taft’s offense. The strategy for dealing with the Toreadors was to try to shut down running backs Marquis Brignac and Sedric Hurns.

Birmingham succeeded early on, letting its cornerbacks cover man-to-man while packing the middle to stop the running game.

Except Alvarado calmly picked out the open receivers and got them the ball. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 190 yards and one touchdown in the first half when Taft led, 14-0.

Twice he drew Birmingham defenders offside like a veteran quarterback.

As for the protection he received, Alvarado said, “That’s the sweetest line in the City. That’s my boys.”

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Sack man: Taft defensive end Eric Griffin provided a boost to the defense in the second quarter when he contributed sacks of eight and 10 yards of Birmingham quarterback Scott Doherty.

Griffin, a 6-1, 210-pound junior, has been an improving tackler for the Toreadors.

“He’s really playing well,” defensive coordinator Frank Grossman said.

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Injury: Taft linebacker Tyler Brennan suffered a possible broken right hand.

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Passing show: Alvarado and Doherty combined to complete 10 consecutive passes at the start of the second half.