Monday, Dec. 8, 2003 | 9:47 a.m.
RENO -- His team outrushed, outpassed and outdone, Las Vegas coach Kris Cinkovich stood outside his locker room Saturday in the foreign position of explaining how an opponent won the physical battle.
"They beat us up front when it counted, both sides of the ball," Cinkovich said.
Line play, usually the cornerstone of the Wildcats, faltered as Las Vegas lost to Reno, 26-23, in the 4A State Championship at the University of Nevada-Reno's Mackay Stadium. The offensive and defensive lines were not the only culprits in the Las Vegas loss, but they did not carry the team as they normally do.
Reno (9-5) rushed for 218 yards on 50 carries, as the Huskies ran 63 offensive plays and won time of possession by5 1/2 minutes. Huskies tailback Conor Martin bruised Las Vegas (13-1) for 110 yards on 29 carries before leaving with an injury early in the fourth quarter.
"They were quick and tough," Cinkovich said.
The deficient rushing defense against Reno was particularly surprising after the Wildcats stifled the Palo Verde double-wing attack just a week earlier. Sporting one of the best running games in Nevada, the Panthers gained little on the ground outside of a 95-yard touchdown run with the game already in hand.
"Any team from Reno, they're always going to bring it for you," Wildcats defensive back Stanley Copeland said. "They've got great coaches up here and they've got great kids."
Equally unusual were Las Vegas' struggles to run the ball, with both Jamal Lomax and Jacob Robertson held to less than 60 yards by the tough Reno defense.
The Wildcats never developed the consistent ground game necessary to free up their potent play-action passing.
Even so, Las Vegas was forced into the unfamiliar territory of having to pass in the fourth quarter after falling behind. Jeremy Craddock threw for 67 yards on seven completions and did not complete a pass beyond 20 yards in the game against the Reno secondary that appeared to have Las Vegas well scouted.
Even without its best game, Las Vegas fought valiantly against the inspired Huskies. The Wildcats used the momentum from a freak safety in which the Reno holder snapped the ball out of his own end zone on a punt, marching 73 yards in nine plays on the ensuing possession to take a 15-7 lead on Lomax's 2-yard scoring run late in the third quarter.
After then allowing touchdowns on three consecutive Reno possessions, the Wildcats blocked their second punt of the day, with Michael Williams returning it 23 yards for an unlikely score to pull Las Vegas within 26-23 with 2:40 to play and no timeouts left. Reno's Tom Barcia, who gained 74 yards in relief of Martin, fumbled on the next play. Two Wildcats had a shot at the ball, but excitedly tried to pick it up for the score instead of corralling it.
"There was a crowd of people," Cinkovich said. "We should have fallen on the ball. When you're not mentally cued up, you don't get those breaks."
Still in good shape with Reno stuck in second-and-17, Las Vegas allowed Barcia a 15-yard run and then one of barely 2 yards for a first down that officials signaled without measuring, infuriating the Las Vegas coaches. The Huskies ran out the clock from there, preventing the Wildcats from the ultimate feel-good finish to a difficult season.
"It's tough," Copeland said. "It's a little more easy just because it's been another week (since Gomez's death). It's hard to prepare for something like this. When you get on that bus, you don't know what to expect if you haven't been here before."
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