Unbeaten Nevada football teams to battle in Carson

College football fans in Nevada have to endure a, ahem, "battle" of winless teams this weekend. Prep football fans, on the other hand, are being treated to a matchup of undefeated squads in the state capital.

Carson (Carson City), which is No. 5 in the latest MaxPreps state rankings, hosts No. 11 Bishop Manogue (Reno) Friday in a game between two of the three remaining unbeatens in the 4A Northern League. Spanish Springs (Sparks) is the only other 4A team in northern Nevada without a blemish after Reed (Sparks) knocked off previously unbeaten McQueen (Reno) 28-7 last week.

"It's a big game, not that the other ones haven't been," Manogue coach Paul Mills said this week. "When you've got things going, you set your sights pretty high. It should be a heck of a ball game."

The host Senators (3-0, 2-0 Northern 4A) have been one of the region's most impressive teams thus far, outscoring their opponents 119-46 behind a potent rushing attack led by junior wingback Dylan Sawyers. The standout rushed for 169 yards and added 107 yards on five receptions as Carson routed Hug (Reno) 43-10 last week. Sawyers, who is expected to be one of the state's top recruits in the class of 2012, has rushed for 520 yards and scored seven rushing touchdowns this season.

Senators quarterback Trey Jensen completed 15 of 20 passes for 210 yards in the win over Hug, giving the Miners' defense one more thing to worry about.

"Their (fly offense) forces us to play really good assignment football," Mills said. "If we do that, we have a chance to contain their offense. We're going to do what we do. We've got to be consistent offensively to sustain drives and put points on the board. When our offense is on the field, we're playing really good defense."

Carson coach Blair Roman could not be reached for comment.

Bishop Manogue (4-0, 3-0) has struggled at times defensively this season, but the Miners were able to shut down Reno in a 28-10 win last week. Statistically, Manogue is about as balanced as a team can be on offense - 871 yards rushing and 831 yards passing - and that will be key against the Senators.

This is also the first game in what could be a season-defining, three-game stretch for the Miners, who have a bye next week before facing No. 7 Reed and No. 8 McQueen. Last season, Manogue was able to contain Sawyers and used a 46-yard field goal in the final four minutes to edge the Senators 14-11.

"Carson is a physical team and they get after it," Mills said. "They have tough kids. Hopefully we can keep it close like last year and give ourselves a chance to win it at the end."

HUG FORFEITS THIS WEEK'S GAME
Hug (Reno) will forfeit Friday's football game against Galena (Reno) after the school learned of several alleged hazing incidents that have occured throughout the season.

According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the hazing involved several varsity players "intimidating" freshman players. Hug is conducting an internal investigation of the allegations.

"There were more students involved than we could deal with on an individual basis and we felt we needed to send a clear message that this behavior won't be tolerated," Hug principal Andrew Kelly told the newspaper.

As a result of the forfeit, Galena is now 1-3 and 1-2 in the Northern 4A league, while the Hawks drop to 0-5 (0-3).

PREPS TO PROS
Garry Hill-Thomas, who coached the North Valleys (Reno) boys basketball team to the 4A Northern Region playoffs in his only season with the Panthers, resigned this week to become a part-time scout with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Hill-Thomas played collegiately at Nevada and led North Valleys to a 14-11 mark. He will scout Northern California and the NBA D-League for the Timberwolves.

"I've joked that North Valleys is the first high school around here to lose a coach to the NBA," Hill-Thomas told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "This is just a great opportunity I couldn't pass up. It gets my foot in the NBA door."

SNEAK PREVIEW
1. Palo Verde (Las Vegas) at Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas), football: At the very least, a share of first place in the Northwest League is on the line. And, depending on what happens in Thursday night's game between Legacy (North Las Vegas) and Arbor View (Las Vegas), the winner could be alone atop the league standings.

No. 2 Palo Verde (4-0, 2-0) continues to roll behind running back Brandon Wright and an improving defense that blanked Centennial (Las Vegas) 21-0 last week. Wright (824 yards, 9 touchdowns) can go past the 1,000-yard mark with another big game.

The No. 10 Spartans (2-1, 2-0) found their offense the last two weeks behind running back Christian Brown. The senior rushed for 325 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-18 win over Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas). Cimarron forced five turnovers in that game, including two forced fumbles by Brown near the goal line, and likely will have to win the turnover battle in this one.

2. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) at De La Salle (Concord, Calif.): The Gaels (3-1) get their biggest test - maybe ever - on Saturday when they travel to Northern California to take on the powerhouse Spartans, who are No. 19 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 rankings presented by the Army National Guard. Click here to read about the Bishop Gorman-De La Salle game and the rest of the Top 10 games of the week.

3. Durango Fall Classic, girls volleyball: Arguably the nation's top girls volleyball tournament takes place across the Vegas valley this weekend. Four teams from the Xcellent 25 rankings - No. 5 Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), No. 6 Redlands East Valley (Redlands, Calif.), No. 20 Xavier College Prep (Phoenix) and No. 23 La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.) - figure to battle for the title. Click here to read Kevin Askeland's preview.

RECRUITING NEWS
* Las Vegas senior shortstop Tanner Chauncey gave an oral commitment to Brigham Young. Chauncey was a second-team all-state player after hitting .580 with three home runs and 46 RBIs as a junior.

* Las Vegas senior right-hander Erick Fedde verbally committed to UNLV. Fedde (6-2, 3.17 ERA) was also a second-team all-state pick and is the sixth local player to commit to play for new Rebels coach Tim Chambers.

* Four senior girls soccer players made verbal commitments: Taylor Bonetti and Tori Rodriguez of Arbor View (Las Vegas) committed to Louisiana-Monroe, Christine Cooklin of Silverado (Las Vegas) chose Dixie State and Emily Murzinski of Centennial (Las Vegas) picked San Francisco.

David Schoen works at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and is a former Associate Sports Editor and Turn2 columnist for the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune. You can reach him at ByDavid1@aol.com.