Faga, Olsens true Ironmen at UNLV

Steve Guiremand

Friday, April 18, 2003 | 10:12 a.m.

The city of Indian Springs is only about an hour's drive northwest of the UNLV campus up Highway 95. But for most college football recruiters, it might as well be on the moon.

It's a small town of fewer than 2,000 which features a prison and a branch of Nellis Air Force base. The local high school has only 130 students and plays 8-man football.

"We're in a little town in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of trailers," UNLV fullback Andrew Faga said. "No one is going to come out there to watch a game. You don't get college coaches coming out there."

Don't be surprised if that changes.

Faga, a 6-foot, 240-pound senior, and sophomore cornerback David Olsen, who also played at Indian Springs, would both be starting for UNLV if the Rebels were to play a game today. And Olsen's older brother, Derek, a junior linebacker, is arguably the team's best special teams player.

That's three players from the tiny 8-man school expected to play key roles for John Robinson's squad in 2003. And Faga's younger brother, Adrian, a hard-nosed fullback/linebacker, will join the team in the fall.

"The odds of that happening are very small," UNLV defensive coordinator Mike Bradeson said. "But they do it at Nebraska with a lot of 8-man kids. Sure, the odds of that many players coming out of a school like that are not very good. But you happen to have two families up there with athletic backgrounds."

Faga's father, Indian Springs head football coach Sope Faga, is an imposing figure who looks like he could start at defensive tackle for the Rebels. Richard Olsen, father of David and Derek, is a Washington State graduate who ran track for the Cougars. His wife, Debra, is an English teacher at Indian Springs.

"The Olsens and the Fagas, that's what it has always been in Indian Springs," Andrew Faga said.

"It's a tribute to Indian Springs and Coach Faga up there," Bradeson said. "He's doing a good job developing kids."

David Olsen said it's also a tribute to 8-man football.

"Most coaches don't even think eight-man football is real football," he said. "That's what I've heard from a couple of coaches anyway. But I think football is the same anywhere. If you have the talent, you have the talent."

In fact, Olsen said he thinks 8-man may be more demanding to play.

"It's a lot faster," he said. "Every position is kind of like playing two positions. A cornerback is like being both a corner and a safety. A linebacker is like playing linebacker and safety."

"People do look down at 8-man football," saiid Faga, who quarterbacked the Thunderbirds to a 32-1 record and two 1A state titles. "But you have to take into consideration all the kids who have gone on from 8-man to play for some of the top schools in the nation.

"One of the best things about 8-man football is you're going to have to play about 10 times harder. It's Ironman football because you usually have to go both ways."

Faga said Indian Springs' UNLV players are probably going to put the small town on the map.

"It's a small town," he said. "Every year we have a spring festival. It's one of those towns where you have a parade and you have things like a little pig in the parade. But it's a great town. The people there really support you.

"The community would raise money to help send me to football camps. Stuff like that. Me and Derek Olsen were the first kids to ever go Division I from there. I will never forget where I came from."

There will probably be another Division I signee next February from Indian Springs. Faga's brother, Omega, is a talented running back who could be the best Faga brother.

"Omega is probably the most athletic of us," Andrew Faga said. "Adrian is a tough, tough athlete, too. He's going to shock some people when he gets here in the fall."