Warriors gut it out

Bob Cloud

Monday, Nov. 25, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

It might have been billed as a mismatch, but somebody forgot to tell the Western Warriors to be afraid of big, bad McQueen.

Jermial Smith capped an 85-yard fourth-quarter drive with an eight-yard touchdown run to put Western ahead in the fourth quarter. Smith then provided the insurance with a 34-yard interception return for a score just five plays later, as the Warriors rallied to beat McQueen 18-10 and win the 1996 Class AAAA state football championship Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The Warriors thoroughly whipped the larger Lancers along the line of scrimmage, holding the potent McQueen attack to a paltry 138 total yards while running up 226 themselves. Western used a tremendous speed advantage to stifle the Lancers, allowing McQueen's leading rusher, Bubba Henderson, a mere 24 yards on 13 carries.

"Our quickness on the line made the difference," Western coach Rich Stevens said. "I thought we could get outside on them and use our speed. Their offense couldn't get outside on us."

For a long time, however, it appeared the game may go down as one Western gave away on mistakes. The Warriors moved the ball consistently in the first half but fumbled twice and trailed 3-0 at halftime.

"That was the major downfall for us," Stevens said. "The fumbles killed us. I went in at halftime and told them if we score, the defense will hold it for us. We didn't panic at all in the locker room. We knew we had made the mistakes ourselves."

But as the third quarter unfolded, it was McQueen which started to commit errors. The Lancers fumbled on the first play of the second half, putting Western in business at the McQueen 33-yard line. The drive stalled at the 14, but the Warriors were given new life on a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a missed field-goal attempt. Anthony Jones cashed in from a yard out to put Western up 6-3.

Late in the third quarter, Western turned benevolent again after being forced to punt deep in its own territory. Tom Bryan's kick was blocked and McQueen's Nolan Turner scooped up the ball at the 2-yard line and scored to give the Lancers a 10-6 advantage heading into the final quarter.

After an exchange of punts, Western took over at its own 15 and went to work. Jones opened the drive with a 31-yard burst, the first of 13 consecutive running plays. On 3rd-and-four at the McQueen 8-yard line, Smith took a pitch and outran the defense to the flag for a 12-10 Warrior lead with 5:38 to play.

"I told them we had to drive five yards at a pop and take time off the clock," Stevens said. "We did just that. Our offensive line hasn't gotten much credit all year, but they really came through when it counted."

On its ensuing possession, McQueen picked up a first down, but on 3rd-and-18 Smith picked off quarterback Matt Dalton's pass and went 34 yards untouched for the touchdown, making it 18-10 with 3:25 remaining.

Both teams fumbled on their next possessions, giving the Lancers one final chance with 58 seconds left. A triple reverse netted seven yards, but during a timeout McQueen coach Ken Dalton was handed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing with an official. Following two incompletions, Drew Potts of Western picked off Matt Dalton's final desperation heave to initiate the championship celebration.

"These kids are scrappers," Stevens said. "I knew we'd be in this game in the fourth quarter. I was very confident of our abilities. Our defense and Jermial Smith were the differences in this game."

Said Smith: "I was just trying to be ready when the opportunities came. It feels great. This is my high school dream right here. We said we have to do it right now. The offensive line came through with great blocking. We were patient. We knew we'd get an opportunity."

The state crown is the second at Western for Stevens, who played on the Warriors team that won the title in 1977. As he concluded his maiden season as the head coach of his alma mater, he said he couldn't have asked for anything more.

"As a player it was great, but as a first-year coach this is a dream come true," Stevens said. "I'll never forget these seniors. I think all of Southern Nevada was rooting for us tonight."

* TAHOE TRUCKEE 21, VIRGIN VALLEY 14: Tahoe Truckee snuffed out two late Virgin Valley drives with interceptions and held on to capture the Class AAA championship. Truckee (11-1) scored first on a 59-yard pass from Chris Rending to Ryan DeMont in the opening quarter then upped the advantage to 14-0 on a 1-yard run by Jesse Richardson early in the fourth quarter. Nate Petterson scored on a 72-yard run for Virgin Valley (10-2), but Truckee answered with a 5-yard interception return for a score by Ben Tohlen. Virgin Valley rallied on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Cory Frehner to Travis Rainey, but was unable to dent the Wolverine defense further. Truckee's title came after losing in the state final the last two years.

* BEATTY 18, THE MEADOWS 8: In the Class AA final, The Meadows was unable to hold an 8-7 halftime lead and lost to Beatty for the third time this season. Jose Farias scored on a 21-yard run in the first quarter for the Hornets (9-1), but The Meadows (8-3) got a touchdown run from 14 yards out from Victor Wright and a two-point conversion to lead at the intermission. Beatty took control of the game in the second half as Rick Jackson connected with Josh Marker on a 30-yard scoring play for a 15-8 lead. Farias booted a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin. In the second half, Beatty allowed Wright, who gained 83 yards in the first half, just 13 yards over the final two quarters.

* EUREKA 32, INDIAN SPRINGS 8: Eureka avenged its only loss of the season and handed Indian Springs its first setback in the Class A title contest. Indian Springs turned out to be its own worst enemy, fumbling nine times. Eureka (10-1) jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter as quarterback Giovanni Tognoni threw two touchdown passes and Jeremy Auch scored on a 10-yard fumble return. A six-yard run by Tognoni in the second quarter put the Vandals ahead 26-0 at the half. The Thunderbirds (10-1) got on the scoreboard in the third quarter on a touchdown run by Joe Faga, but could come no closer. In addition to forcing the turnovers, Eureka's defense held Indian Springs to a season-low 155 offensive yards.