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StumblePublished Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011 | 4:30 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011 | 4:35 p.m.
September 9
Brewer's Picks
Last Week:
13-3
20-8 (.714)
Brewer vs. Keefer
Las Vegas Sun reporters Ray Brewer and
Case Keefer attempt to pick
the winning team from prep contests
across the Las Vegas area.
Keefer's Picks
Last Week:
12-4
18-10 (.642)
One of the Northwest’s best rivalry games will be won by the more athletic team.
Cheyenne 23, Cimarron 20
Cimarron football is back, baby.
Cimarron 24, Cheyenne 7
Raise your hand if you had the Bengals starting 3-0.
Bonanza 32, Sierra Vista 19
Picked Bonanza to make the playoffs last year, guess I was a year early in calling for its breakthrough.
Bonanza 27, Sierra Vista 20
I will take the team that has the best player on the field — Clark’s Marquise McKinney.
Clark 27, Spring Valley 12
The Grizzlies defense played admirably against Durango. Now, the offense just needs to catch up.
Spring Valley 26, Clark 21
Gorman hasn’t lost a Southwest league game since 2006.
Gorman 56, Durango 0
And the Gaels may not lose one until 2106.
Gorman 49, Durango 0
Pahrump Valley’s losing streak continues, but just barely.
Western 15, Pahrump Valley 12
Not as close as Brewer envisions.
Western 28, Pahrump Valley 6
Arbor View wins the battle in the trenches in this physical contest.
Arbor View 17, Centennial 13
Feels nice to finally be able to pick Arbor View.
Arbor View 21, Centennial 10
The schools have played every year since opening together in 1996 and Palo Verde has never lost.
Palo Verde 44, Mojave 7
Life is but a breeze for the Panthers.
Palo Verde 47, Mojave 0
Legacy is already in a must-win situation in the competitive Northwest Division.
Legacy 32, Faith Lutheran 6
L.J. McMorris and the offensive line in front of him get it together here.
Legacy 28, Faith Lutheran 15
Virgin Valley beats up on another 4A classification school.
Virgin Valley 34, Shadow Ridge 14
Time to already start building the anticipation for the Moapa Valley vs. Virgin Valley rivalry. Both teams look good so far.
Virgin Valley 17, Shadow Ridge 7
It pains me to pick against my Cowboys.
Coronado 43, Chaparral 7
So tempted to pick Chaparral here, but common sense prevails.
Coronado 35, Chaparral 19
Its tough to pick against Foothill against its great start to the season.
Foothill 32, Desert Oasis 21
No doubt in my mind Foothill contends for the Southeast Division title this year.
Foothill 24, Desert Oasis 23
Green Valley’s defense is the weak link, but its offense is potent enough to beat B.C.
Green Valley 32, Boulder City 29
Boulder City let one get away last week. Eagles won’t have the same opportunity against a better team.
Green Valley 26, Boulder City 13
Don’t be surprised when Del Sol is playing during Thanksgiving weekend in the state semifinals.
Del Sol 49, Eldorado 16
Rumor has it that Brewer will attend this game. He’ll be the guy with Dragons face paint and a Del Sol fanny pack.
Del Sol 42, Eldorado 17
Silverado gets back on track after its shocking upset two weeks ago.
Silverado 39, Valley 0
This upset would be even more shocking. But it’s not going to happen.
Silverado 40, Valley 13
I will say it again: Moapa Valley is one of the state’s top 10 programs.
Moapa Valley 63, Sunrise Mountain 6
A Pirate’s life for me.
Moapa Valley 35, Sunrise Mountain 0
For more coverage, including photos, videos, stats and schedules, check out our high school football section.
i like the cartoon drawings...Ray's is dead on, Keefers not so much. Ray you're right on the Moapa Valley prediction...Gorman, even with 2nd and 3rd stringers playing entire second half plus running clock will put 70 on durango.
Del Sol looks forward to seeing you at the game Ray! ;D
Tuas how can that even be considered impressive? Gorman's dominance over local opponents is due to the mediocrity of the uninspired schools in the Valley. We're not a football state, and Gorman going around beating up on small kids is just...sad.
They need to be in their own division, or they should just play their entire season against out of state opponents and let the public schools enjoy a fair semi-balanced (albeit something crappy) league.
sg1... nobody said it was impressive.
Tonopah beat Eureka 89-0 week one, Pahranagat Valley 62, Wells 0... i heard zero complaints there. When Palo beats up on the rest of the northwest or when Vegas slaughters the northeast for the 11,000,000 year in a row i hope you complain equally across the board.
I hope you get on that soap box for Palo, Vegas football and i'll expect to hear your constant wining when Centennial girls basketball dominates once again.
I don't hear you complain when Faith Lutheran went from 3a to 4a, but as soon as they start winning you will. When Gorman football was a .500 team people complained about recruiting. 6-4 season or 14-0 season people will whine. Sg1, just wait two years once this realigment takes place and you'll see Vegas, Palo, Gorman, Liberty become even more loaded programs because no stud football player zoned for Sunrise Mountain because he happens to live in that area will want to play for the equivalent of a bowl subdivision team. They'll find a way to enroll at Vegas.
Same goes for college level players who will not want to play for their school for a 4a-division II state title where you beat former 3A schools. The NIAA had a very good reason to want a realigment but their good intentions will not have the desired affect.
Palo is a sports-crazed school too. But they do so somewhat within the rules, though I hear stories about how Darwin Rost gets a lot of special advantages as well due to certain members of his family. They're competitive each and every year because that school, much like Gorman, is centered around athletics. The difference is Palo is like the "Plan B" school for kids who aren't quite good enough to go to Gorman, so every year they have the chance to play the spoiler. Palo has to deal with Cimmaron, Arbor View, and now even Legacy which all pose a threat.
The difference is however that these other schools who have strong programs (Sierra Vista basketball, Centennial girls hoops, Palo's football) also are still subject to different rules. They just can't take anyone and everyone they want from all over the valley. They don't have eyes and ears in the middle school programs to pinpoint future prospects and offer free rides to athletes.
These other schools have gotten to where they are because of great coaching, and developing players instead of buying them. And that's how it should be done at this age.
are you living under a rock?
"They don't have eyes and ears in the middle school programs to pinpoint future prospects and offer free rides to athletes." Are you kidding me?
Vegas' former coach Fairchild was a mainstay at NYF games, you don't think Rost is too? Are you kidding me? They are subject to the same rules, and if you're telling me that you believe Palo Football, Centennial G Basketball, Vegas Football, GV Baseball don't have any star players that aren't actually truly zoned for that school then you're out of your mind. Palo is not a plan B, there are a ton of players from Palo, Liberty and other schools in the valley that are better than their counterparts at Gorman. Fertitta's paid $9 million for that stadium you don't think they can front free schooling for 22 starters with the best kid from every single school in town? C'mon now.
Credit goes to Del Sol of late, Cheyenne in the early 2000's where kids didn't transfer there they just had good teams even with limited support. You don't think kids zoned for Basic use their uncles address to play for Foothill or kids that are zoned for Valley use the exemption so they can go to Silverado?
I have no problem with your expressing yourself what i have a problem with is constantly preaching about one school and absolutely ignoring anything else
Oh you're so fun to debate with!
Palo is indeed plan B for the nearby kids who can't cut it at Gorman (or they can't be promised a starting position that Rost is promising), but you are right, there are other kids around town that either don't get offered by Gorman or turn them down. It's a long way across town, some of families don't want to go across town. Other players are offered help with transportation, and coaches INCLUDED at Gorman are involved at helping certain sponsored kids get to/from school, want to dispute that one?
The Fertitta's are clearly involved at getting players over to Gorman, and everyone there is very careful because of NIAA regulations. In today's smartphone age, they have to be a little more covert considering even the cheapest phone can result in a youtube video 15 minutes later. There are people at Gorman much more involved in the recruiting (and well-off) than the Fertitta's which are involved (we tend to overlook Gorman baseball, which is an entirely different story and probably trumps football).
One of our biggest names to come out of Nevada via Gorman since Demarco Murray was recently Justin Chaisson, and we saw how that ended up. Yet it is funny how the Sun never ran a single story about how he exited Oklahoma.
Do we want to enter the conversation about the Gorman kids strength training program? That could be a fun one.
You see, while lots of these other schools might be doing things too, I didn't witness them. However, what I'm "preaching" about isn't speculation in regards to Gorman.
Comment removed by moderator. Personal Attack
Awwww I missed it. Please repost without a personal attack I'd like to continue this conversation and I'm dying to know what you said now.
oh man that sucks lol I guess pointing out that Chaisson had a bad temper before the (word that rhymes with stay-royds) but wont be mentioned for fear of comment removal and that i called him Bill Romanoski Jr.. also that Sanchez's potty mouth was noted on a national level
...On another note... Ray! What can you do about helping to support our alma mater Chap, in putting out there a signup notification for the Alumni Football game this year. I know you still have some contacts for formaer players over the years. Come on man, you know you wanna see an Alumni Chap game! :) I was on the team that went to state in '92 against McQueen and have been waiting for a chance to get back on the field ever since. Plus, some of the proceeds go to the schools. As you know...Funding for Chaps football program is hurting pretty bad right now.
What do you say??? Huh Buddy???
Lets be realistic. Every high school football program in Southern Nevada recruits and all the coaches know who the top middle school players are. The unfair advantage Gorman has is that the best middle school players all want to go to Gorman for the national exposure since Gorman is now a national power and they are able to get full scholarships. Take away Gorman being able to give full scholarships and i guarantee that they will not be getting the best incoming freshmen players anymore.
for the millionth time i will ask the question and God willing somebody will answer it.
Being that Gorman provides financial aid for hundreds of students, most being non-athletes, should Gorman not be allowed to provide any financial aid to varsity players? Would that make everyone happy?
I will answer it. What would be fair would be Gorman being able to give full scholarships to senior football players only and not to incoming freshmen players. That way Gorman would not get the best incoming freshmen players and so they would not have a pipeline of continuing to bring in the best freshmen year in and year out.
so no financial aid to student who happen to be athletically gifted? So what about the guy who is a bench warmer (like myself) who never end up playing varsity and came from a sh!t poor neighborhood and just happened to want to play a sport too, i should not have been given any financial aid until my senior year simply because i played a sport?
and thank you for answering, nobody ever answers that questions
Tuas you know better on this one - Gorman exploits the loophole. They don't offer 'aid' in many cases, it is a complete free 4-year trip. It's clearly against the rules.
NAC 386.824 Restriction on offer or provision of compensation or other inducement to pupil. (NRS 386.430) A school shall not provide or offer to provide to a pupil any compensation or other inducement if the compensation or inducement is not made available to each pupil who enrolls in or applies for enrollment in the school. The compensation or inducement includes, without limitation, providing or offering to provide:
4. Free transportation by a person who is associated with the school;
6. Any privilege that is not provided to all pupils of the school;
Athletic scholarships are illegal at the high school level, period. The NIAA knows they do it, but won't go after them. Do you wonder why? Call them up and ask who high up on their board went to Gorman.
Seems pretty cut and dry. The privilege of reduced or free tuition is available to all. I'm perfect proof of that among with hundreds of other Gorman alums and current students who also went for free or reduced tuition and played no sports. If you found that nobody not listed on a varsity roster received aid or tuition then you'd have a point.
Here's a form all athletes must sign. Since many of these players are receiving aid from third-party sources, clear violation, stated clearly below.
http://www.niaa.com/forms/Tuition_Assist...
I understand that my signature is an acknowledgement that I have been informed
that accepting tuition assistance from a third party or from anyone other than a
family member is a violation of NIAA regulations. In addition, I understand that
accepting tuition assistance will result in a loss of high school and possibly
college athletic eligibility.
I also understand that the discontinuance of tuition assistance from another party
does not meet the requirements for a financial hardship appeal that would allow
me to transfer with athletic eligibility to a public school.
I also acknowledge that my signature verifies that I have not been contacted by
any coach or individual involved with the receiving school encouraging me to
transfer my son / daughter.
Ok....so just verifying, student athletes cannot receive any tuition assistance from the SCHOOL or just third party/non family? I ask because any student who belongs to a Catholic parish gets reduced tuition (approx $1,000) since they're members of catholic church. In my case i received that, plus financial aid due to income level of my parents and the rest was paid by school.. until my gpa dropped then i had to get 3 jobs to pay the part that i lost in order to stay at Gorman. I'm hoping that only means actual money in pocket, tuition in an envelope because a ton of kids get tuition assistance, if i'm not wrong Gorman gave over $800,000 worth of tuition assistance to students last year. THat's a hell of a lot of students, most of which contribute nothing to athletics.
I guess it's simple. The NIAA needs to subpoena tuition records (withholding names to the public obviously don't need to embarass the poor kids like i was back then) then release ratio of tuition assistance to students/athletes and just students that play no sports. If tuition assistance is only a violation if it comes from a third party or a non family member then the "account" for tuition assistance which is funded by numerous fundraisers through boosters which provides tuition assistance to many more non athletes than athletes is that considered a third party or simply school providing reduced tuition through their general budget?
Hey, there is some good football players in this valley, most of these teams can run with Gorman if they had 1 thing; discipline. Armwood had the talent but Gorman was better at executing and maintaining assignments. The problem with the vegas valley is their lack of coaching. Keeping these kids motivated and disciplined. Its not easy. Rost's scheme, as old as it is, makes his kids believe in it. They are not good as individuals but as a group they make for a good game.
GormanHomer, lets be realistic. The 1thing is not discipline. Its TALENT. And Gorman football has all of the top talent in Southern Nevada. And although good coaching is a factor, it really doesnt matter when a program is loaded with the top talent. With as much talent Gorman has, discipline and coaching doesnt really matter as they would beat any of the other teams even if they didnt have a coach. The second team for Gorman would beat every team. In fact, the Gorman jv would beat every team. The only way to keep it fair is to not allow Gorman to continue to bring in the top freshmen players year in and year out and the only way to stop this is to not allow them to give full scholarships to incoming freshmen football players. These players will then be forced to go to the other public schools that they are zoned for.
RayC i don't agree. Sure Gorman has won state 3/4 last four years....before that? 1983 was the last time. Gorman got spanked by Palo in 2007 playoffs. I hear your gripe about Gorman but lets not go overboard Gorman's 2nd string varsity this year would probably beat several teams in town but so would Palo's...Gormans JV would not beat everyone c;mon now.
For anybody watching the cheyenne game wow. What a play to block the extra point and not get a penalty. So glad they do these Thursday night games on tv
Tuasdad, I agree that Gorman wasnt as dominant until the last 2 to 3 years. But as i have said before, no football program in Southern Nevada will challenge them for years to come due to the talent they have in their underclassmen players. The Gorman freshmen and jv teams are blowing out the other freshmen and jv teams by 40+ points every game. They are a national power now and play on ESPN every year. They really dont even have to recruit anymore since all of the best incoming freshmen players in Southern Nevada want to go to Gorman and no one can blame them. My gripe is that this is not good for high school football in Southern Nevada. Its good for Gorman representing Southern Nevada on the national scene, but not good for Southern Nevada football. Similar to how Florida State dominated the ACC in the 90's where it was not good for the ACC conference, but good for Florida State representing the conference on the national scene. And although the 2nd team of Gorman and the jv team may not beat every other school, i believe those players would be starters on pretty much every other school. How much better would high school football in Southern Nevada be if these players were spread out to the other schools?
You have a point but Vegas sucks when it comes to pride in community. It's such a transient town that very very few people outside of parents and some others care about high school football. In the 90's McQueen and Cimmaron ruled football and nobody cared, state championship game had more fans who traveled down from Reno than fans from southern team. Back then Gorman sucked.
The only schools who have cultivated a good following and proud alumni that actually show up and support.their schools (football) are Gorman, Palo, Vegas and Basic. Basic can suck balls and because Henderson has a lot of longtime residents they have pride and probably know somebodies kid on the.team. at the state semi final game.in 2009 home team Del Sol had maybe 1/3 less fans than visiting basic. Nobody cares in this town. They didn't in the 90's or early 2000's. If we were more.like northern Nevada where people stay I'm.the town they grew up in then you'd have talent more evenly spread. But look at the massive (for southern nv standards) crowd the Gorman vs Palo game got last year. There are so.few people with a sense of community in this.town.
Thanks for the correction Ray. Chaps State Game was in '90. Shows you how much I remember ;)
All Southeast teams should come out with victories tonight! Let's go!
Arbor View wins by 20 tonight as they beat up on the Pups from Centennial!
Cheyenne/Cimarron game last night was one not to be missed. The only thing I would have done different for the Spartans is not try to punch it in on fourth down and short...I guess because I just watched the Saints do the same thing just an hour earlier and fail.
Cheyenne should get them a kicker, not sure what the whole always-go-for-two thing is all about?
Good pick guys! Del Sol 40-6 :D