At the beginning of the high school football season, the week of Oct. 15 was circled as potentially the biggest in Northern Nevada.
Well, here we are, and the preseason predictions about this week's slate of games were as accurate as a Swiss watch.
Four of the top five teams in the Northern 4A League standings square off head-to-head on Friday as league leader
Carson (Carson City) makes the 40-mile trip north to meet
Spanish Springs (Sparks), while
McQueen (Reno) hosts
Bishop Manogue (Reno). And, as expected, there are all sorts of playoff implications on the line with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
Carson at Spanish Springs: One of the ramifications of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association's realignment was an unbalanced schedule in the revamped 11-team 4A Northern League. Carson, which is ranked No. 4 in the latest MaxPreps state rankings, was arguably the biggest beneficiary.
The Senators (6-0, 5-0) miss out on McQueen and 5-2 Reed (Sparks), meaning this game against Spanish Springs is the last big speed bump on Carson's road to an undefeated regular season and the top seed for the Northern Region playoffs.
Last week, Carson opened up a 52-7 halftime lead and rolled to a 52-20 win over Damonte Ranch (Reno) as quarterback
Trey Jensen was 8-for-12 for 141 yards and two touchdowns while playing only the first half. Star running back
Dylan Sawyers, meanwhile, sat out the game after injuring his leg the week before against rival
Douglas (Minden) and it is expected to be a game-time decision whether Sawyers can play against the Cougars, according to the Nevada Appeal.
No. 15
Spanish Springs (Sparks) (5-1, 4-1) had two weeks to prepare for this showdown after dropping a 20-14 heartbreaker to McQueen on Oct. 2 and it will be interesting to see if the Cougars install any new offensive wrinkles.
Spanish Springs managed just 25 yards of offense in the first half against McQueen and finished with 120 overall. Still, the Cougars owned a 14-12 lead heading into the fourth quarter thanks to a 5-yard pass from Tanner Oates to Dylan Woll and a 1-yard run by Taylor Swanson, and it took a touchdown in the final minute for McQueen pull out the win.
Prediction: Carson 21, Spanish Springs 17
Bishop Manogue at McQueen: Something has to give here as these are two of the hottest teams in the region at the moment.
The No. 9 Miners (5-1, 4-1) are fresh off their finest performance of the season in a 41-14 trouncing of Reed, which had been undefeated in league. Quarterback
Zach Mcelroy threw for 189 yards and accounted for four touchdowns, while
Gino Rossi ran for 174 yards and a score.
Manogue was able to control both lines of scrimmage against Reed and dominated time of possession, which will be key against McQueen and its potent offense. But the biggest challenge now for Manogue will be to avoid a letdown and continue peaking since it appears that the No. 7 Lancers are playing their best football of the season.
McQueen (6-1, 5-1) has won three in a row, including last week's 41-6 thumping of Galena (Reno), and it's apparent the Lancers received a big jolt from the return of running back
Nick Shepard. The senior's health has been well-documented; he left the 28-7 loss to Reed on Sept. 17 after experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath, but returned two weeks ago and scored the winning touchdown against Spanish Springs. Last week, Shepard ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, and added a 61-yard touchdown reception to spark the Lancers.
The winner of this contest puts itself in prime position for a top-three seed in the playoffs, which is key since the No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed matchup in the opening round of the postseason is starting to look like the one to avoid.
Prediction: McQueen 28, Bishop Manogue 21
SNEAK PREVIEW
Here are a few other football games from around the state to keep an eye on:
1. Galena at North Valleys: A game between two teams with a combined 2-9 record in the 4A Northern League usually wouldn't garner much attention - especially with the above mentioned games and another key matchup between Reed (5-2, 4-1) and
Reno (5-2, 3-2) taking place. But as it stands, the winner of this matchup figures to earn the eighth and final playoff spot for the Northern Region playoffs.
The lone win for
Galena (Reno) came via forfeit and the Grizzlies (1-5, 1-4) have a difficult task in slowing down the spread offense of
North Valleys (Reno). The Panthers (1-6, 1-5), who made the playoffs last season, average 28.6 points per game against a rugged schedule that has pitted them against five of the top six teams in the league standings so far. (North Valleys ends the season at Bishop Manogue as well.)
2. Faith Lutheran at Centennial: The loser of this Northwest League game can pretty much kiss its playoff hopes goodbye.
Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas) has won two straight and the No. 16 Crusaders (4-2, 2-2) are tied with surging
Legacy (North Las Vegas) for fourth place, although Faith Lutheran owns a head-to-head win.
Quarterback
Joe Portaro has thrown for 1,637 yards with 15 touchdowns this season and is coming off a big game against
Mojave (North Las Vegas) in which he accounted for 370 yards of total offense.
No. 14
Centennial (Las Vegas), meanwhile, essentially controls its own destiny since the Bulldogs (4-3, 2-3) finish the season with games against Legacy and
Cheyenne (North Las Vegas). The Bulldogs, who have not qualified for the playoffs since 2003, need another strong defensive effort to slow down Portaro and Co.
3. Agassi Prep at The Meadows: First place in the 2A Southern League is at stake here. This is rarified air for
Agassi Prep (Las Vegas), which clinched its first postseason berth since moving up to the 11-man level in 2008 with last week's 48-0 win over Lincoln County (Panaca).
Devonn Porter ran for three touchdowns and leads the Stars (4-1, 4-0) on offense.
The
Meadows (Las Vegas), meanwhile, is no stranger to big games. The Mustangs (4-2, 4-0) are the two-time defending 2A state champion and will no doubt be in the mix again this season behind quarterback
Garrett Gosse, who threw for 382 yards and six touchdowns in a 52-23 win over Needles (Calif.) last week.
The Meadows scores a ton of points, but the Mustangs have also given up their fair share this season, so don't be surprised to see a high-scoring game.
ARBOR VIEW SURVIVES THRILLER
Arbor View (Las Vegas), which is in its sixth season of varsity football, has never qualified for the 4A Sunset Region playoffs. But the No. 10 Aggies are on the verge of finally clinching a berth in the postseason after last week's epic 60-58 four-overtime win over Cheyenne (North Las Vegas).
Arbor View (7-0, 5-0 Northwest League) stuffed Desert Shields running back
Tyler Spight on a 2-point conversion in the fourth overtime to cap off one of the biggest victories in school history. Spight finished the game with 217 yards rushing and scored six total touchdowns in the losing effort.
Steve Burns scored late in regulation to tie the game for the Aggies at 30-30 and Cheyenne blocked the extra point attempt to send the game into overtime. Burns scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth overtime for what proved to be the game-winning score.
Arbor View hosts third-place
Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas) on Friday and would lock up a spot in the playoffs with a win over the No. 12 Spartans (3-3, 3-2). A win this week followed by a victory over Faith Lutheran on Oct. 28 would likely set up a clash for first place in the Northwest League against top-ranked
Palo Verde (Las Vegas) (7-0, 5-0).
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.
