You could choose a number of cliches to describe the wild, come-from-behind win the McQueen (Reno) football team pulled off Friday, but the one about the heart of a champion seems to fit pretty well.
That, and better to be lucky than good.
The Lancers, who are the defending 4A state champs and No. 4 in the MaxPreps state rankings, trailed host Carson (Carson City) 34-23 with 7:55 remaining in the fourth quarter. But McQueen staged a furious rally - it was capped by Nick Shepard's 5-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds to play - to grab a 38-34 victory and avoid the dreaded 0-2 start.
Still, none of it would have been possible without a fortuitous bounce that went McQueen's way.
After marching 93 yards to cut Carson's lead to 34-31 with 3:18 left, McQueen lined up for an onside kick with most of its players on the left side of the formation. Instead, Lancers kicker Eric Martinez squibbed it the other way and recovered the ball himself at the Carson 40 to set up the game-winning drive.
“The ball took a funny bounce at the last second," Carson coach Blair Roman told the Nevada Appeal. "I can honestly say the game was decided by the bounce of the ball."
On the decisive drive, quarterback Joey Sorgani connected with Shepard for a 17-yard gain down to the Carson 18. After a 10-yard holding penalty, Sorgani had three straight completions to Blaze Buyington, Shepard and Brian Grove before Shepard punched it in.
Carson sophomore Dylan Sawyers returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the McQueen 34, but Senators quarterback Blake Plattsmier was sacked on the first play and his final heave into the end zone fell incomplete.
"We're at a point where we feel we've improved, but we need a signature win," Roman told the Nevada Appeal. "When you are playing a team that won a state championship, you have to beat them like this. You're not going to beat them 42-0.”
In other action around the state from Week 2:
- Aaron Short caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Tim Herman with 13 seconds left to give upstart North Valleys (Reno) a 47-40 win over Galena (Reno), which was ranked No. 5 in the Reno Gazette-Journal's poll.
Short, who didn't play football the past two years and decided join the team this summer, also sacked Galena quarterback Beau Bickel to end a back-and-forth game that featured more than 900 total yards combined.
- Basic (Henderson) notched the first "upset" in Southern Nevada by beating host Desert Pines (Las Vegas) 25-6.
Desert Pines was ranked fifth by Nevadapreps.com.
On Basic's first possession, punter Kelly Armistead ran for 34 yards on a fake punt he called himself to set up Quinn Richarson's 4-yard TD run, and the Wolves never looked back. Basic (2-0) held the Jaguars to 177 total yards one week after DP (1-1) hung half a C-note on Cheyenne (North Las Vegas) in a 50-6 win to open the season.
- Reed (Sparks), No. 1 in the MaxPreps state rankings, fell behind 17-0 and lost 31-13 to Oceanside (Calif).
Oceanside won the California Interscholastic Federation Division II state championship in 2007.
GAMEBALLS
* Shaquille Powell (Bishop Gorman football): The sophomore rushed for 111 yards and scored three times - once on a 56-yard fumble return - to help the Gaels to a 31-0 win over Durango (Las Vegas).
* Dasean Martin (Bonanza football): He rushed for 241 yards - 158 of which came after halftime - along with four touchdowns in the Bengals' 41-26 win over Sierra Vista (Las Vegas).
* Tim Herman (North Valleys football): The junior threw for 336 yards and five touchdowns in the Panthers' 47-40 win over Galena.
* Josh Thompson (Moapa Valley boys cross country) and Kelsi Koch (Palo Verde girls cross country): The juniors posted the fastest times at the Las Vegas Labor Day Classic, finishing the 2.86-mile course at Palo Verde in 15:07 and 19:10, respectively.
* Carl Greene (Foothill boys cross country) and Lauren Lucas (Coronado girls cross country): Each took first place at the Falcon Invitational at Foothill. Greene crossed the finish line of the 2.5-mile course in 13:12, while Lucas won in 15:53.
SNEAK PREVIEW
* Arbor View (Las Vegas) at Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas): The Northwest League is arguably the toughest in Southern Nevada and this is easily the game of the week in LV. Each team has an explosive 1-2 punch in the backfield as Arbor View (2-0) features senior DeMarlo Virgil and junior Taylor Wooten, while the Spartans (1-0) counter with seniors James Poole and Stephen Nixon.
Virgil has scored five times this season, while Wooten has cracked the 100-yard barrier in both of the Aggies' games. Poole went for 174 yards and two scores in a 44-7 win over Cheyenne. Nixon added 81 yards in the opener and is one of the top recruits in the state after rushing for nearly 2,000 yards and 23 TDs as a junior.
* Green Valley (Henderson) at Canyon Springs (Las Vegas): The Gators are off to a 1-0 start and will try to spoil the Canyon Springs coaching debut of former UNLV and Arena Football League star Hunkie Cooper.
* Douglas (Minden) at McQueen: Two of the top teams in the Northern Nevada go at it in what should be a defensive slugfest.
* Bishop Manogue (Reno) at Hug (Reno): Another battle between Top 10 teams. Manogue had a week off to lick its wounds after losing to top-ranked Reed 26-10 to open the season. Hug (1-1) is coming off a 27-6 win over South Tahoe (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.).
David Schoen works at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and is a former Associate Sports Editor and Turn2 columnist for the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune. He enjoys kung pao chicken, King of the Hill reruns and anything to do with Ed Hochuli. You can reach him at ByDavid1@aol.com.
