Eldorado, Gorman eliminated from playoffs

Spencer Patterson

Monday, Nov. 27, 2000 | 10:20 a.m.

Southern Nevada may have brought the state's top two college prospects into Saturday's 4A football semifinals, but Northern Nevada had something that proved far more valuable: tradition.

McQueen and Wooster, two Reno schools that have combined for 11 large-school state titles in the past 23 years -- including six of the last 11 -- eliminated Las Vegas' remaining two hopefuls to set up an all-northern state final this weekend.

McQueen (13-0), which lost last year's championship game to Cimarron-Memorial, overcame Eldorado's Steven Jackson -- the state's leading rusher -- posting a 29-14 win over the visiting Sundevils.

"McQueen has been there before, and they had that experience," Eldorado coach Ken Trujillo said. "They had an extra year to think about what happened last year against Cimarron. It was just their day, and it wasn't ours."

Likewise, Wooster (10-3), which won back-to-back state titles in 1994 and '95, contained normally dangerous Bishop Gorman quarterback Dyante Perkins en route to a lopsided 29-6 win at Valley High School.

"My first thought in the middle of the second quarter was, 'This is an old-fashioned country butt-whipping,' " Gaels coach Roger Whalen said. "They were stronger and more physical than we were, and we just got handled tackle to tackle real bad."

So, in the first year of Nevada's new two-week, four-team state tournament format, the Lancers will host the Colts Saturday at 1 p.m.

It will be the third meeting this year for the longtime rivals, with McQueen winning both previous matchups, 31-14 and 28-3.

Any hopes of a southern entrant in this week's prep finale went out the window early in Saturday's contests, with both Gorman and Eldorado falling behind in the first half and never mounting a serious comeback.

The Sundevils (10-3) shot themselves in the foot with a fumble in the first quarter and a botched punt in the second -- both of which led to Lancers' scores. Chris Carr -- the north's leading rusher -- scored two of his three touchdowns in the first half and Graham Siderius connected on two field goals to help the hosts take a stunning 22-0 lead at the break.

"We just came out of the chute so slow," Trujillo said. "Quite a few of our kids had never even been on a plane, and some of our kids were still too excited about (winning) last week."

The Lancers put the clamps on Jackson, who came into the game with more than 2,500 rushing yards, dominating the line of scrimmage and holding the senior to 108 yards on 30 carries.

His only touchdown of the game, scored in the fourth quarter, came too late to save the Sundevils.

"They were so quick up front," Trujillo said. "They were in our backfield before we could ever get going."

The Gaels (9-4) were also unable to get on track offensively, with stars Jason Rogers and Perkins combining for fewer than 60 yards on the ground. Colts back Ben Cofer, meanwhile, had no trouble finding running room, getting into the end zone three times to help his team cruise to victory.

Despite the disappointing losses, both local coaches praised their players for superb seasons that saw the two schools capture division and region championships.

"I've been on a downer knowing we got handled that easily, but I'm really happy with the effort we had from the kids all year," Whalen said. "We've been together on a daily basis since last November, and the kids have responded well. When you go through the things we've gone through with kids, you can't help but get close with them."

Offered Trujillo, "I am extremely disappointed because I don't like to lose and I truly believed we were destined to win it all. But I'm happy for our kids and for our school. We put Eldorado football back on the map."