Patterson’s Preps football picks — Playoffs

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Oct. 29, 1998 | 11:18 a.m.

SOUTHERN ZONE FIRST ROUND

BISHOP GORMAN (5-4) at ELDORADO (7-2), Monday, 5 p.m.

On paper, this looks like a mismatch between the Sunrise Division champions and a club that barely squeaked into the playoffs during the final week of the regular season. But all season long, the Gaels have been defying the odds. So this one may be close after all. Eldorado has the edge when it comes to size, speed and depth, but Gorman may have the most heart of any team in town. The Gaels' personality is embodied by quarterback Nick Didier, a 5-8 sparkplug who absolutely refused to let his club lose to Durango last Friday. Both teams must guard against a letdown, especially Gorman, which may not have much emotion left after last week's double-overtime thriller. The Sundevils haven't looked like themselves in closer-than-expected wins against Rancho and Silverado the past two weeks, so a good start will be essential. If Eldorado takes an early lead, it could be lights out for the Gaels. But if Gorman scores a couple first-half touchdowns, the Sundevils may have a dogfight on their hands.

Eldorado 28, Gorman 20

VALLEY (3-7) at CHEYENNE (9-0), Monday, 5 p.m.

The Desert Shields have been a machine all season, blasting their way through the area's best squads (Eldorado, Cimarron-Memorial, Western) with relative ease. Now, the real fun begins for coach George Perry and Co., starting with a Valley squad that only found out it qualified for the playoffs on Wednesday. The Vikings pulled off one of the season's biggest upsets last Friday, when they toppled Green Valley in their regular season finale. Beating the Desert Shields, however, will be another matter altogether. In the most basic sense, playoff games come down to which team makes the most big plays, and Cheyenne appears to have more big-play people than anyone else in Southern Nevada. Quarterback Lawrence Turner is an experienced leader who can make a critical pass when he needs to, and the backfield of tailback Ja'wan Dodson and Deon Ned is second to none. The Desert Shields also have quick athletic players throughout their defensive unit, a big reason for their perfect mark thus far. Valley, on the other hand, has quarterback Dwayne Murray, tailback Jermaine Jordan, receiver Jaime Ceuvas and a cast of supporting characters who will need to step up to keep this one respectable.

Cheyenne 42, Valley 13

GREEN VALLEY (6-3) at CIMARRON-MEMORIAL (6-3), Monday, 5 p.m.

The Gators, who were originally scheduled to play Western in the first round, lost out on having home field advantage in the re-shuffle. Now, Green Valley has to take the road to play a Spartan club many expected to dominate the local scene this year. Cimarron, on the other hand, may have caught a break when Las Vegas exited the playoffs. Instead of playing a pass-oriented club which may have exposed their weaknesses, the Spartans play a team that, like themselves, grinds out most of its yards on the ground. After struggling in a loss to Cheyenne in week eight, the Spartans got just what the doctor ordered last week: a game against first-year foe Palo Verde. Cimarron also gave bruising tailback Arnold Parker some much-needed rest, while fullback Leonard DeRoche and second-string tailback Darian Hall did the bulk of the work on the ground. This game could be decided by which featured back has the better game, Parker or Green Valley's Danny Tanner, who amassed 1,000 yards in just eight games. Both teams have plenty of recent playoff experience, so this one should be the best game round one has to offer.

Cimarron-Memorial 21, Green Valley 17

WESTERN (6-3) at CHAPARRAL (6-3), Monday, 5 p.m.

The Cowboys lucked out when the playoff pairings were altered this week, avoiding a death match at undefeated Cheyenne, the team everyone wants to avoid at all costs. Now, Chaparral first-year coach Ben Johnson actually has the chance to take his team to the zone semis, with evenly-matched Western in the way. The Warriors' season began without much fanfare before the club settled into a consistent groove. Despite the loss of starting tailback Marcus Lewis to injury, Western rolled over solid Gorman and Durango teams before last week's lopsided loss to Cheyenne brought the Warriors back to earth. The Cowboys' loss at Las Vegas last week showed the team has holes in its secondary, but the Warriors likely aren't the team to expose that weakness. This one will be played primarily on the ground, although Chaparral quarterback Tyson Dobbs isn't afraid to air it on if given the opportunity. Western has more depth at key positions, but in Dobbs, tailback Verwon Washington and linebacker/receiver Richard Seigler, the Cowboys may have the top three athletes on the field.

Chaparral 24, Western 20

Season -- 68-22 (.756)

Last week: 5-4.