A Clash of the Unstoppable and Unbeatable – Previewing Holy Cross vs Dallas First Baptist

It’s not often that you see two teams this good, this late in the season, still undefeated. These two teams have found ways to win every game through close games, blowouts, and pure domination. Now, these two teams are crossing paths, and someone’s perfect season will come to an end.

This Friday, the Holy Cross Knights will travel to Waco Robinson Rocket Field to take on the Dallas First Baptist Saints in a battle for momentum, and the right to stay undefeated.

The Saints have been dominant ever since the start of last season. Coming off a huge loss in the first round of the TAPPS Division IV Playoffs in 2022, Dallas First Baptist was looking to get back on the winning side and they did exactly that, notching a 13-0 season along with massive wins all the way to the state championship game where they came out on top as state champions. The Saints were on top of the world. But they weren’t done yet . Despite losing their main guys ‘24 Hunter McCoy and Alijah Cason, they’ve matched last year’s excellence with excellence so far this year. They’re putting up numbers similar to last season, last year this team averaged 342 passing/172 rushing per game, this year they’re seeing 345 passing/195 rushing per game. They stand at 7-0 and are on a 20-game winning streak dating all the way to the first game last year. They’ve gotten stronger and more experienced, after a close week 1 win vs Buckeye 28-15, they’ve blown out every opponent since, outscoring their opponents 359-83.

And what makes this Saints team hard to stop is their unpredictable offense. Most teams have one main quarterback, maybe 2 to switch back and forth, well, try having to scout and guard three. First Baptist has used three different quarterbacks all throughout the season. ‘25 quarterback Quincy Rheams has led the way for this Saints offense with 924 passing yards and 11 TDs on a 69% completion percentage while also using his legs to rush for 443 yards and 8 TDs, He’s a quarterback, a running back, and if they wanted to they could make him a wide receiver. But Quincy isn’t the only one putting up numbers. ‘26 Dylan Jones has put up a notable stat line so far this season with 848 passing yards and 11 TDs on a 66% completion percentage. But with these impressive numbers have to come receivers who can catch those yards and Touchdowns, and the Saints have just that, their two leading receivers ‘25 ATH Bradlee Mays who can line up just about anywhere with his 6’3 height: slot, wide receiver, and tight end. He’s been unstoppable at all three spots putting up 26 catches for 833 yards and 14 TDs, and their second leading receiver ‘25 Kaleb Mitchell who at 6’6 is almost impossible to stay with, he’s put up 17 catches for 412 yards and 3 TDs.

 And if having to find a strategy to guard 3 quarterbacks who are extremely versatile wasn’t hard enough, their runningbacks have been on a tear too. ‘25 RB Mark Rayson leads the way with 62 carries for 517 yards and 5 TDs along with Freshman RB Jonah Murphy who has put 164 yards and 2 TDs on 26 carries.  Finding a way to stay with this Saints team and stop them is almost impossible, and its been impossible for the last 20 teams these guys have faced. But the key word is “almost”

If there’s one team on their schedules from the last two years that can give them a run for their money it’s the Holy Cross Knights. The Knights have been on a tear this season, improving on an already incredible season they had last year finishing 10-3 with an 8-game winning streak all the way into the playoffs where they fell short in the state championship. But this team as we know is way different than they were a year ago, last year it was make a deep playoff run, and this year it’s finishing what they started. The Knights are currently 7-0 as well beating out some of the biggest private schools in San Antonio.

Behind starting quarterback ‘25 Gibby Alvarado, this knights offense has taken TAPPS by storm, outscoring their opponents 329-62. Gibby Alvarado leads the team in both passing and rushing yards with 1,358 passing yards and 17 TDs, and 393 yards and 3 TDs rushing. His two main guys have been on fire too, ‘25 ATH Nick Hall and ‘25 ATH Marco Gomez who both have 21 catches on the year, Nick Hall with 432 yards and 8 TDs, and Marco Gomez with 448 yards and 6 TDs.

We know what kind of expectation these teams have put up through 7 games, especially with these numbers, but I wanted to get to know what Coach Jason Lavvorn and Coach Mike Harrison have seen from their guys so I decided to reach out and ask them a couple of questions. I started off by asking: 

What is the biggest thing that has stood out to you about this team through these 7 games? What has impressed you the most?

 Coach Lavvorn responded by saying, “Our physicality has stood out the most to me this season. Because of the passing numbers we’ve put up over the years, I think there’s a perception that we are a finesse, spread team with talent that just wants to outscore our opponents. We have a tough, hard-working group of guys who love to hit and play great defense, and I think that is standing out more this season.” 

I had a chance earlier in the year to ask Coach Harrison this question when I was previewing his district opener vs NBCA, but I wanted to know what he had to add to this question so I asked him:

Coach, the last time I interviewed you, I asked, “What is the biggest thing that has stood out to you about this team through these four games?” To add to that, walking into three district games with several guys banged up with injuries or illness and having several second —or third-team guys step up into a bigger role, how much has that alone impressed you through those three district games?

Coach Harrison:

“ I am most impressed by the fact that each and every member of the team has been laser focused on the team goals.  This is exemplified by the hard work that our scout team puts in each and every day to give starters the best look possible to prepare them for the upcoming game.  These young men are unheralded, they don’t grab the newspaper headlines, they don’t get the notoriety of others; yet every day they work and sweat to simulate our opponent.  That is the mark of an unselfish team and the potential for greatness lies there.”

And even with this First Baptist team being identical to last year’s team I still asked Coach Lavvorn:

 With this team being undefeated since last season, whats the biggest difference you’ve noticed with team between last year and this year?

Coach Lavvorn said, “I think this year, we are bigger and more balanced. Almost our entire defense is back from last year’s championship team, and we have a lot of experience on both sides of the ball. It’s interesting because our offense looks much different this year without Hunter McCoy and Alijah Cason, but we are putting up very similar numbers so far. We are averaging around the same number of points, and last year, we averaged 342 passing/172 rushing per game, and this year, we are averaging 345 passing/195 rushing per game. We are using 3 different quarterbacks and spreading the ball around, which I think is making us difficult to defend, even with the major losses of Hunter and AC.”

Finally, I finished off the questions by asking both coaches, 

Even with this game being a non-district matchup in the middle of your district schedule, to face a team with the exact same record as yall, how much do you think this game alone will help prepare the team for the end of their district schedule and for yalls run to become back to back state champions?

Coach Lavvorn: “No matter what the result is on Friday night, this game will benefit both programs as we prepare for playoff runs. While we have been stressing the importance of taking things day by day and game by game throughout the season, I would be lying if I said we haven’t talked about goals like the Holy Cross game or getting to the state championship. I think it is important for a team to have the maturity to look at the big picture and have big games to look forward to, while also having an understanding of the daily process it takes to achieve those goals. Our guys have balanced that well. The excitement leading up to this game feels like a playoff game, and I expect a great atmosphere on Friday night. I know we both had a hard time filling this late opening, but the timing of this game could not have been better as we prepare for the playoffs. We have so much respect for Coach Harrison and the Holy Cross program, so preparing for and playing against a program like Holy Cross is going to make us a stronger team if we are fortunate enough to still be playing on December 6!”

Coach Harrison:

“Dallas First Baptist has the best skill talent we have faced this year.  Their depth at the skill positions is honestly overwhelming; they come at you in waves.  They have the leading receiver in all of TAPPS in #4 Bradlee Mays, #12 Kaleb Mitchell is 6’6”, #15 Mark Rayson is the best running back we have faced and the list goes on and on—Quincy Rheams, Dylan Jones, George Anagnostis, etc…..   The most talented of the bunch is probably #55 Kore Thomas.  He is the most dominant defensive lineman we have faced.  So the question is why?  Why put your perfect record on the line in a non-district game this late in the season?  The answer is simple; beating teams soundly may look great to the fans but it does not prepare you to win state championships.  To win state championships you need to have your weaknesses exposed so that you can correct mistakes before the playoffs.  We look forward to the challenge that Dallas First Baptist will present to us.” 

Both of these teams are ready to make a playoff run and go back to state and on the way to that run they will look to stay undefeated, but unfortunately only one will and we’ll find out who that’ll be, Friday night, when Holy Cross takes on First Baptist.