Shedding light on Sunrise

Bob Cloud

Thursday, Sept. 12, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

It may be too early to term it a crucial matchup, but tonight's Green Valley-Las Vegas prep football clash will certainly put one of the teams into the Sunrise Division driver's seat.

The Wildcats, 1-1 and ranked eighth in the state, host the second-ranked Gators (2-0) in a 7 p.m. contest. Las Vegas enters the game off a last-second win at Bonanza last week, while Green Valley disposed of California power Long Beach Poly to remain unbeaten.

"I think for our kids, and for Vegas too, it's time to get on to the division season," Green Valley coach Larry Thomas said. "Las Vegas has been picked to be our main contender, so it'll be a test. I don't think this game will decide the division -- it's too early -- but it should be a good one."

In other Sunrise Division games, Chaparral (2-0) is at Rancho (0-2) and Basic (0-2) travels to Valley (2-0). In the Sunset, Western (2-0) is at Durango (1-1), Clark (0-2) goes to Bonanza (0-2), Cimarron-Memorial (2-0) faces Bishop Gorman (1-1) at Sam Boyd Stadium and Silverado (1-1) plays at Cheyenne (1-1).

The Western-Durango contest will be broadcast live over KLAV 1230-AM, with a television replay on Prime Cable channels 1 and 48 to be shown Wednesday at 7 p.m. KRLV 1340-AM will carry the Basic-Valley game.

While the first game of divisional play is not do-or-die, both Thomas and Las Vegas coach Kris Cinkovich said tonight's game is nevertheless important toward getting a head start on the competition.

"In a year, we've gotten our program up to a high level, but to go farther we need to beat Green Valley," Cinkovich said. "If we don't, it's not going to leave a bad mark on the season, but we have a goal to win the Sunrise Division and this is the first division game."

Said Thomas: "I think that's true for either team. A loss would be a big blow to our ego, if anything, but it wouldn't put us out of the race.

"But it's always better to be in front than to have to play catch-up."

Cinkovich said he's anxious to see how his team matches up with Green Valley in the trenches, an area he deemed critical to the final outcome.

"The offensive line is a strength of their team, and we haven't yet shown we can stop the run," Cinkovich said. "That will be a key to this game. We have to slow down the running game, while being able to run the ball ourselves.

"It should be a good one. I think it will be a high-scoring game. They're good again, and it's up to us to pick a few spots we might be able to attack."

Stopping the run is not the lone concern Las Vegas has when dealing with Green Valley, as Gator quarterback Ian Jones completed 19 of 36 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown in the 16-10 defeat of Long Beach. Despite the fact the senior also was intercepted five times, Cinkovich came away from film study highly impressed.

"He's the legitimate deal," Cinkovich said. "I view him as a tremendously accurate thrower. We have to be ready to step up on their receivers, because if we give them any room, he'll find them. He gets rid of the ball quickly, so we'll have to be able to generate at least a little pressure on him."

Thomas said the Long Beach Poly game has been a confidence booster for the Gators, principally on defense. Green Valley stopped Poly three times inside the Gator 10-yard line, including once following a blocked punt in the game's closing minutes.

"I think our kids are confident," he said. "We played an excellent defensive game against Poly. Our kids got a taste of big-time football and reacted well. I hope we can carry on from there.

"We still haven't jelled offensively. We put some drives together, then penalties and mistakes slow us down. We're still searching for consistency. Defensively, we're playing well. We're playing solid ball."