Palo Verde ready for prime time

Steve Cunningham

Thursday, Sept. 25, 1997 | 11:07 a.m.

Boulder City wanted a game instead of a bye, and a home contest at that.

Palo Verde's junior-varsity squad didn't want to face Silverado twice this fall and was willing to take a chance.

That's how Friday's unusual football matchup at Boulder City came to be. It's a no-win situation for the Eagles, no-lose for the Panthers. The two coaches involved -- Boulder City's Dan Cahill and Palo Verde's Darwin Rost -- are leery about the meeting, for different reasons.

"Win or lose, they win," Cahill said. "If they compete, it's a great plus for their program. We've told our kids to be ready because they are coming here to play football. They'd have just played another JV team."

Said Rost: "It's going to be tough. It will open the eyes of our kids. They are a good varsity football team."

The less-than-dreamy pairing became reality in a roundabout way.

Boulder City had just three home games scheduled and an open date after a Canadian team backed out of the trip south, so the Eagles asked Cheyenne's JV team to fill the void. To take the game, Cheyenne needed to drop Silverado's junior varsity and that foe was offered to Palo Verde. However, Palo Verde was playing Silverado already and didn't want to face an opponent twice.

The result? Palo Verde at Boulder City.

It could be ugly. The Eagles are 2-1 after beating Yerington's Rite of Passage 21-13 last week and are used to the rigors of varsity competition. Also, Boulder City has juniors and seniors who have spent three and four years in the program.

Palo Verde is 2-2 at the JV level, playing only freshmen and sophomores. Rost knows his youngsters probably can't compete physically with the Eagles.

"They have good-sized linebackers, where ours go at about 150 (pounds)," he said. "We've got to be realistic. If we throw the ball, it's got to be real short. We don't want to run a lot of things where our kids have to drive them off the ball. Then again, we don't want to back off, either."

Cahill said the school received several phone calls this week inquiring about the game, wondering why Boulder City was playing a junior-varsity squad. And Cahill is taking no chances with preparations, treating the Panthers as he would any other opponent, even scouting Palo Verde in person.

"They are very, very solid," Cahill said. "They have some very good athletes. Their offensive line is probably as big as ours. Darwin's really put things together over there."

Said Rost: "If we were to win, it would be the shock of the year. We have nothing to lose. We're expected to get blown out by this varsity team. That's the way we've approached it, but you never know what will happen until we strap it up and play."