It has been at least five seasons since the
Foothill (Henderson) football team played a regular season game of this magnitude. For
Liberty (Henderson) it's been, well, never.
The upstart Patriots, who are No. 4 in the latest MaxPreps state rankings, host No. 6 Foothill on Friday for what is arguably the biggest game in their rather brief history. The winner earns at least a share of the Southeast League title and a No. 1 seed for the Sunrise Region playoffs.
"We haven't been in this situation in a few years and I don't know that Liberty has ever been in this situation, so it should be a good atmosphere," Falcons sixth-year coach Martin Redmond said. "We have a lot of upperclassmen and our kids are pretty mature kids. They've been to the playoffs the last two years and have experience. They know what these big games are all about."
Foothill (8-0, 4-0 Southeast League) was one of the area's dominant teams in the first half of the decade, winning league titles in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005. But this is the first time since Oct. 14, 2005, against Silverado (Las Vegas) that the Falcons have played a game this late in the regular season with as much at stake as Friday's contest.
For Liberty (6-1, 5-0), however, this is uncharted territory. The Patriots won just 14 games in their first six seasons of varsity football before breaking through last year by going 8-4 and advancing to the Sunrise Region semifinals.
Now, they are looking to take the next step.
Foothill High's Parker Riggin.
Photo by Jann Hendry
"We struggled for a lot of years here," Liberty second-year coach Rich Muraco said. "For the first five or six years nobody really took Liberty seriously. Last year was a great first step toward building a program and this year we wanted to show that wasn't a fluke. That's what we want, to establish that we're a program that's consistently in the playoffs every year. The kids understand what's on the line. They want a banner to hang in the gym."
On paper, the game appears to be a classic matchup of power (Liberty) against finesse (Foothill). Offensively, the Falcons like to spread the field with senior quarterback
Parker Riggin and use a quick passing game to put the ball in the hands of their numerous playmakers. Riggin has thrown for 1,708 yards with 15 touchdowns and only four interceptions, and Foothill has five players with at least 11 receptions.
Liberty features a massive offensive line and prefers to control the clock with its running game that is averaging 275.7 yards per game behind backs
Niko Kapeli (540 yards),
Ty Byrd (423 yards) and
Teu Tai (310 yards).
"Liberty is a great team and physically they come at you," Riggin said. "We need to go out and play the way we can on Friday. This group of guys has been together since our freshman year and we've built chemistry and really become a team. When you put that on the football field, it equals wins."
The Patriots will have to find a way to get pressure on Riggin and that could fall largely on the shoulders of defensive end
Sam Tai. The 6-foot-4, 248-pound senior has made official visits to Colorado and Idaho, and is scheduled to take an unofficial visit to UNLV this weekend. He said he will also visit Arkansas, Fresno State and Nevada.
"The game is won in the trenches and we have to be able to dominate. It's going to be a good fight for us," Sam Tai said. "Football here used to be really bad, so to be able to come back and put up a banner, to be able to do that for ourselves would be a huge accomplishment."
The key to slowing down Liberty's running game will be the play of the Falcons' linebacking corps, which features seniors
Ryan Call,
Dominic Larocco and playmaker
Keegan Buck. The 6-foot, 200-pound Buck has 76 tackles and 16 sacks, which has attracted the interest of schools such as Oregon State, Northern Arizona and Weber State.
Foothill is also hoping to get senior running back
Connor Afoa back from injury. If he is unable to go, expect
Miles Killebrew to be the featured back.
Last year, Foothill beat the Patriots 12-0 and has never lost to its crosstown rival.
"We felt like right from the beginning of the season we would be one of the teams at the end competing for the (league) title," Muraco said. "The kids are really anxious to get out there and kind of settle the score against them."
SNEAK PREVIEW
1. Canyon Springs (North Las Vegas) at Las Vegas, football: It should be no surprise that at least a share of the Northeast League title is at stake here. Since 2001, Las Vegas has won eight league titles and Canyon Springs is the only team to interrupt the Wildcats' dominance, taking the Northeast crown in 2007.
No. 9 Las Vegas (7-1, 5-0) is riding a five-game winning streak and has outscored its opponents 247-21 during the run, including a 64-12 win over rival Rancho (Las Vegas) in the annual "Bone Game" last week. Junior quarterback
Hasaan Henderson has thrown for 1,231 yards and 17 touchdowns, and has two outstanding receivers in
Cameron Rogers (36 catches, 564 yards) and
Marquan Major (30 catches, 377 yards) to go along with talented running back
Farrell Victor (909 yards, 10 touchdowns).
Canyon Springs (5-2, 5-0) has also won five straight after opening with losses to Southeast League teams Del Sol (Las Vegas) and Basic (Henderson). Coach Hunkie Cooper's squad seems to find a different playmaker each game. Last week it was running back
Malik Brown, who rushed for 155 yards and two scores in a 20-6 win over Valley (Las Vegas). Two weeks ago,
Donnel Pumphrey rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns as the Pioneers held off Eldorado (Las Vegas) 32-13.
A win by Las Vegas would wrap up a No. 1 seed for the Sunrise Region playoffs. Canyon Springs meets third-place Desert Pines (Las Vegas), which is currently 4-1 in the league, in the regular-season finale so there is still the possibility of a three-way tie atop the league standings should the Pioneers pull the upset against Las Vegas and falter next week.
2. Durango (Las Vegas) at Desert Oasis (Las Vegas), football: It is pretty much a given that Bishop Gorman will win the Southwest League crown, but that doesn't diminish the importance of this game.
No. 15 Durango leads Gorman by a half-game in the league standings and a win by the Trailblazers (7-1, 6-0) would set up a showdown Nov. 5 at Gorman for the outright league title and No. 1 seed. Durango has won six straight and features one of the state's top running backs in senior
Julio Mora (1,261, 19 touchdowns).
Desert Oasis could earn a No. 2 seed for the Sunset Region playoffs with a victory. The No. 18 Diamondbacks (6-2, 5-1) have a balanced rushing attack led by
Devin Fortenberry and have had no trouble scoring this season, posting point totals of 77, 53, 49 and 41. Of course, Desert Oasis has also given up plenty of points, meaning the scoreboard could get a workout in this one.
3. Centennial (Las Vegas) at Legacy (North Las Vegas), football: The race for the final two playoff berths from the Northwest League continues to be a battle, but the winner here would appear to be in control of its own destiny.
Centennial, which hasn't made the postseason since 2003, did wonders for its playoff hopes with a 23-16 win over Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas) last week. The Bulldogs (5-3, 3-3) used three big plays — a 41-yard touchdown run from
Willie White and 82- and 55-yard scoring runs by
Taj Cole — to move into a fourth-place tie with Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas).
Defending league champion Legacy has quietly overcome a slow start and put itself back in the playoff chase. The Longhorns (4-3, 3-2) have won three straight games and now have a solid 1-2 punch at running back with a healthy
L.J. McMorris and the emergence of
Jordan Ireland.
BURNS STAYING HOME
Emily Burns, a senior forward for the
Galena (Reno) girls basketball team, made a verbal commitment to Nevada, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
The 6-foot Burns was the Northern 4A co-player of the year and a first-team all-state pick after leading the Grizzlies to a 25-3 record. She averaged 16 points and nine rebounds as a junior. Burns was also recruited by Pacific and San Francisco, but chose the Wolf Pack over UoP. She expects to play more on the perimeter at Nevada after being primarily a post player for the Grizzlies.
"I knew I liked the coaches. It came down to meeting the girls," Burns told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I really liked them a lot. I could see myself being friends with them in the future."
NORTH VALLEYS HIRES PERALDO
Richard "Dickie" Peraldo has been hired as the new boys basketball coach at
North Valleys (Reno), according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Peraldo takes over for Garry Hill-Thomas, who stepped down last month to take a part-time scouting job with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Hill-Thomas led the Panthers to a 14-11 mark and a berth in the Northern Region 4A playoffs in his one season as coach. Peraldo is North Valleys' fourth coach in as many years.
"We are excited about the commitment and energies Dickie Peraldo will bring to our men's basketball team and look forward to a long association with him as our varsity basketball coach," North Valleys athletic administrator Dr. Craig Hill wrote in an e-mail to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
RECORD-SETTING KAUI WINS 4A STATE GOLF TITLE
Green Valley (Henderson) sophomore Alex Kaui finished a tournament-record 8-under par to win medalist honors at the 4A girls golf tournament and help the Gators to the team title.
Kaui fired an 8-under 64 in the opening round Monday at Hidden Valley Country Club in Reno, breaking the single-round state record. Current LPGA player In-Bee Park shot a 6-under 65 for Bishop Gorman in 2004 and Bethany Wooster of Douglas (Minden) had a 6-under 66 in 2008.
Kaui followed that up with an even-par 72 in the final round Tuesday for a two-day total of 136. That was two shots better than the previous record set by In-Ah Park of Gorman in 2006. Kaui shot even par or better in every round she played this season.
Green Valley's Jenny Hahn, the defending 4A state champion, carded back-to-back 71s to finish second as the Gators won the team title over Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas).
Randi Lewis of
Boulder City shot 78-77 at Ruby View Golf Course in Elko to win the 3A individual crown and lead the Eagles to their second team title in three years. Morgan Murphy of South Tahoe (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) was second with a two-day score of 163 (83-80).
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.
