Sunrise showdown

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001 | 10:11 a.m.

Even for the casual high school football fan, it jumped off the schedule way back in the preseason.

Desert Pines vs. Las Vegas, a battle of two teams expected to be among Nevada's best in 2001.

Five weeks into the season, the matchup's luster is no less bright. Both clubs are 4-1 overall, 1-0 in the Northeast Division and ranked among the state's top six.

Friday's contest -- the Jaguars' homecoming -- will likely decide the division champion and could ultimately determine which school has the inside track toward claiming one of the Sunrise Region's two berths to this year's 4A State Tournament.

"It's an important game if you want to play home playoff games," Wildcats coach Kris Cinkovich said. "Being at home makes such a difference in the playoffs, and you don't want to be playing real good teams early in the playoffs."

Offered Desert Pines coach Gary Findley, "We've kept our kids from looking forward to it, but as a coaching staff this is one we've been looking at. We haven't beaten Vegas yet, and it's safe to say they're the premier program on this side of town.

"Our kids believe it's another one of those stepping stones in our maturing process. There's a little extra incentive to prove that we've arrived."

The No. 4 Wildcats have been red-hot since an opening-game loss to La Costa (Calif.), downing Clark, Cimarron-Memorial, Basic and Eldorado during the past four weeks. Tailback Antione White has grabbed most of the headlines, rushing for 983 yards and 20 touchdowns on 111 carries, but Las Vegas' defense has also been a key factor, improving by leaps and bounds each week.

"I think we're starting to roll, but there are still some things we need to work out," Wildcats junior linebacker Chad Pool said. "We've come a long way since those first couple games, but we still need to improve."

For the No. 6 Jaguars, 2001 has been an up-and-down affair.

Close calls against Centennial and Cheyenne were followed by a disappointing 41-23 defeat at Durango two weeks ago. Then last Friday, Desert Pines put together four strong quarters in a 10-point win over a much-improved Rancho squad.

"We were trying to bounce back from that loss to Durango, and we didn't practice well that next week, but come Friday they were anxious to get back on the field and get to it," Findley said.

"It was our best game of the year. We had one busted coverage on defense, and offensively we fumbled once going into the endzone, but other than those two plays we were very happy."

Despite increased attention from opposing defenses, Jaguars' running back Cornell Johnson is on pace for another strong season, with 632 yards and seven touchdowns on 113 carries. Quarterback Darrell Byrd comes in with 669 passing yards and seven touchdowns of his own, forcing the Wildcats' into a more cautious defensive approach this week.

"They're going to be 50-50 (rushing and passing) most of the time, so we just have to work on running to the ball and swarming," Las Vegas senior Mustafa Barnes-Cruz said.

Though Desert Pines is in just its third football campaign, the two schools have forged a quick and heated rivalry, largely due to the shared border between the two zones.

"They're a real good program and they're in proximity to us," said Cinkovich, whose club edged the Jaguars 22-21 last season. "They've done a heck of a job in a short time. If we get in too big a hole against those guys, we won't be able to dig out of it."