Columnist Spencer Patterson: Football class of 2000 shows off its skills

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2000 | 11:02 a.m.

Spencer Patterson's prep sports column appears Thursday. Reach him at 259-4085 or by e-mail at spencer@lasvegassun.com

Coming off a year that saw no fewer than 13 area football players sign with Division I colleges, Southern Nevada's Class of 2001 certainly had a tough act to follow.

Even before last summer, local coaches and scouting experts alike were predicting gloom and doom for recruiting, with few top-notch prospects standing out. But just four weeks into the 2000 season, this year's seniors are already distinguishing themselves.

The class of 2000 will long be remembered for its linemen, most notably Cheyenne graduate Lynn McGruder (Tennessee) and Chaparral product John Ream (UCLA). Toss in a linebacking corps that included Cimarron-Memorial's Taylor Miller (Utah), Bonanza's Adam Seward (UNLV) and Las Vegas High's Jon Pollard (Oregon State), and it's clear last year's class was a strong, physical group.

This season, the name of the game is athleticism. The top four prospects in the senior class -- Eldorado's Steven Jackson, Bishop Gorman's Dyante Perkins and James Rogers and Valley's James Sims -- all play "skill positions" and posses the combination of speed and size that has Top 25 schools from Tennessee to Michigan calling.

Just behind that quartet are several other players that should draw their fair share of Division I attention, among them: Cimarron-Memorial's Kyler Rushton and Anthony Bass, Chaparral's Dallas Dobbs, Valley's Demetrius Ford, Clark's Clauvis Cyril, Western's Tim Day and Silverado's V.R. Bohman.

Better still for Southern Nevada, athletes in the junior (Cimarron's Kellen Marshall) and sophomore (Desert Pines' Cornell Johnson) classes have already caught the eyes of scouting experts, providing hope that the Las Vegas area may be a factor in college recruiting on an annual basis for years to come.

* GATORS' STREAK INTACT: The Green Valley girls golf team ran its dual match streak to 110 consecutive victories with a win over Foothill on Tuesday, and the main obstacle standing between the Gators and the national all-time record of 120 may have been eliminated.

After losing the top five golfers from last year's 4A state title team, Green Valley was scheduled to open the 2000 season against an experienced Bishop Gorman squad at the Gaels' home course, Highland Falls.

That match was rained out, and tentatively rescheduled for Oct. 10, five days after the end of the two teams' league seasons. But the Sunrise Region tournament has been moved from Oct. 9 to Oct. 10, in observance of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Though Gorman athletic director Norman Craft said his school would still like to reschedule the match for another day, the nonconference match would not count in the standings and is unlikely to be played.

* TIDBITS: St. Mary's (Calif.) captured the 16-team Maui Life/Durango Fall Classic girls volleyball tournament last weekend, reeling off seven wins, including two over nationally ranked Mater Dei (Calif.) on Saturday. Green Valley finished 13th overall, with the host Trailblazers coming in 15th...

Cimarron-Memorial moved up one spot to No. 9 in USA Today's western region prep football rankings. Five of the eight teams ranked ahead of the Spartans are also in the paper's national Top 25, including No. 1 De La Salle (Calif.)...

Cox Cable Channel 48 will broadcast last Friday's Western at Eldorado football game tonight at 7 p.m. Tonight's Foothill at Chaparral contest will air next Wednesday at 7 p.m. KRLV 1340-AM will broadcast tonight's Valley at Silverado game live at 7 p.m.