Upstart Faith Lutheran displaying potent air attack

If you are worried about the health of Faith Lutheran (Las Vegas) quarterback Joe Portaro, don't be.

"His arm is fine," Crusaders football coach Jacob Kothe joked.

A 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior, Portaro has already thrown the ball 104 times for 661 yards and six touchdowns in two games this season. More importantly, though, Portaro's efforts have helped the Crusaders to a surprising undefeated start in just their second season at the large-school 4A level.

Portaro threw for 297 yards in Faith Lutheran's 26-23 come-from-behind win over Fountain Valley (Calif.) in Week 1. Last Saturday, Portaro finished with 364 yards as the Crusaders (2-0) dropped defending Northwest League champion Legacy (North Las Vegas) 37-23 in the league opener for both teams.

"The kids played well and when things didn't go quite as planned, they stayed the course and showed some resolve," Kothe said of the victory over Legacy. "Last year when we moved up to 4A there were some question marks about can we do this. The kids, their whole approach during the spring and summer, their work ethic in the weight room and on the practice field, was so great. They certainly believe."

The Crusaders struggled in their first 4A season, finishing 1-8 as they were ravaged by injuries and didn't have the depth to cope. Standout tight end/defensive end Brett Lubbe missed most of the season while Portaro was out for the final five games.

Now healthy, Faith Lutheran is looking to make a push in the always-tough Northwest League. The next test for Crusaders (2-0, 1-0) comes Thursday when they travel to Cimarron-Memorial (Las Vegas), which is 1-1 following a 37-8 victory over Cheyenne (North Las Vegas) and sits at No. 14 in the MaxPreps state rankings.

"Certainly Cimarron is a very good program and we have our work cut out for us," Kothe said. "There's been a lot of attention on us the last couple of weeks, but the coaching staff and the kids are taking it one week at a time. We know playing in the Northwest League, every week is tough. We have to come ready to play and be prepared."

Portaro, who is second in the state in passing behind Tim Herman of North Valleys (Reno), is one of four potential college recruits for the Crusaders.

"We certainly put the ball in the air quite a bit," Kothe said. "Joe is pretty elusive, too. He can buy time and make a play with his legs or his arm."

According to Kothe, Portaro is hearing from schools in the Mountain West Conference and Western Athletic Conference along with 6-5, 285-pound lineman A J Kaplan. Lubbe, who leads the team with 18 receptions for 182 yards and a score, is being recruited by many of the same schools and is also hearing from a number of Ivy League programs.

In addition, senior wide receiver Don Pearson, who was a second-team all-state selection last season and has 15 catches for a team-high 225 yards and one touchdown thus far, has scholarship offers from Stanford and San Diego State.

"Coaches have told me they like all four kids," Kothe said. "I believe all four can play at the Division I level."

SNEAK PREVIEW
1. McQueen at Reed, football: A share of first place in the 4A Northern League is at stake as two of the region's top programs meet.

McQueen (Reno) (3-0, 2-0) is No. 2 in the latest MaxPreps state rankings and is fresh off a 54-6 win over Damonte Ranch (Reno) in which quarterback Christian Stolo tossed three touchdowns, running back Nick Shepard had 135 yards and two scores, and the defense scored twice on interception returns. This is the first game for McQueen in a difficult six-game stretch to close the regular season that includes matchups against undefeated Spanish Springs (Sparks) and Bishop Manogue (Reno).

No. 13 Reed (Sparks) (2-1, 2-0) is the defending region champion, although the Raiders have not been nearly as impressive as McQueen thus far — at least on paper. Reed held off Hug (Reno) 34-20 last week and edged Douglas (Minden) 25-14 the week before. The Raiders will need a big game from quarterback Brent Showalter and running back John Covello against a McQueen defense that is allowing less than 11 points per game.

2. Liberty at Silverado, football: This is the first of a number of key matchups in the Southeast League, which is expected to have five teams competing for the four playoff berths.

No. 11 Liberty (Henderson) (1-1) showed some rare explosiveness in its 42-10 win over Spring Valley (Las Vegas), scoring on four plays of 50 yards or more. Niko Kapeli had a school-record 95-yard touchdown run and quarterback Kai Nacua tossed a 56-yard scoring pass to Jeremy Lagasca and a 61-yard score to Jared Tuilagi as the Patriots bounced back from a tough loss to fourth-ranked Palo Verde (Las Vegas).

No. 9 Silverado (Las Vegas) (2-0) has outscored its first two opponents 89-14 and rolled up 512 yards of offense in a 61-14 win over Eldorado (Las Vegas) last week. The Skyhawks are led by running back Izaiah Thurmon, who has 247 yards and five touchdowns in two games, along with Steven Scamorza, who scored on an 80-yard run and an 86-yard kickoff return against Eldorado.

GAME BALLS
* The Durango (Las Vegas) football team gained 756 yards and had three players gain at least 100 yards rushing in a 74-28 win over Bonanza (Las Vegas). Senior Julio Mora rushed for 279 yards and had four total touchdowns, Donovan Smith ran for 163 and also had four total touchdowns, while Brandon Pena added 106 yards rushing and a score.

* Silver State Academy/ROP (Yerington) senior running back Devontay Williams finshed with 307 yards and three touchdowns as the 2A Rams blanked Whittell (Zephyr Cove) 38-0.\

* Del Sol (Las Vegas) junior Chris Marshall rushed for 321 yards on 26 carries as the Dragons (2-1) beat Valley (Las Vegas). Marshall scored on runs of 26, 4, 30 and 6 yards.

* Nick Norton rushed for 166 yards and added an 85-yard kickoff return for a score as Reno outlasted Oakland (Calif.) 54-32 to remain undefeated.

* Carson (Carson City) running back Connor Beattie gained 165 yards and added three scores as the Senators pulled away from North Valleys (Reno) for a 45-26 win. Carson junior Dylan Sawyers finished with 260 yards on the ground and two scores.

* Spanish Springs (Sparks) senior Austin Rauh scored on two kickoff returns, a 55-yard run and had an interception to help the Cougars beat Galena (Reno) 34-21.

DOUGLAS GIRLS SET SOCCER RECORD
The Douglas (Minden) girls soccer team broke the state record for consecutive shutouts on Saturday as the Tigers blanked Wooster 12-0 for their seventh consecutive clean sheet.

According to the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association record book, five teams held the previous record of six. The only goal the defending 4A state champion Tigers have allowed this season came against McQueen (Reno) in the season opener on Aug. 27.

"That's a nice feather in our cap," Douglas coach Loraine Fitzhugh told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "We're going to try to keep it going as long as we can."

Interestingly enough, all of the shutouts in Douglas' streak have been combined. Junior goalkeeper Brianna Randall has played the first half of each game while freshman Courtney McKinney has taken over after halftime.

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.