Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004 | 8:56 a.m.
MESQUITE -- On a field that is literally adjacent to the Arizona border, the Virgin Valley High School football team spent afternoons this week preparing for its state semifinal game this Saturday.
The only high school in the northeast Clark County town of Mesquite, Virgin Valley has for nine years played football among the not-quite-so-big boys at the 3A level, after many years at the 1A level and a brief stint at 2A. After making it to the state championship game last year, which they lost to Bishop Manogue 42-26 in the Miners' last game before jumping to 4A, the Virgin Valley Bulldogs have their sights set on another shot at the 3A title game, which is next week at Sam Boyd Stadium.
At dawn Friday at their campus, on the far east end of Mesquite (the school is actually east of the Welcome to Arizona sign on nearby Interstate 15), Virgin Valley's football players will begin a day-long trip to the site of Saturday's game.
They'll travel 527 miles through 11 counties and stop about 10 hours into the voyage in the town of Fernley for a practice. After a night's rest in Reno, they'll bus the final 30 or so miles across the California border to the site of their game -- Truckee High School and its cold, muddy field in a town of 14,000 halfway between Donner Pass and Lake Tahoe.
It's not a fun trip, but the journey will be the easiest part of the weekend. En route to a 8-1 record, the Truckee Wolverines outscored opponents 401-86, and beat rival North Tahoe 59-0 in last week's 3A North playoff.
The 1,054-mile round-trip journey is quite possibly the longest any high school team will travel in the nation this weekend.
Kirk Hafen has been the Virgin Valley coach since 1991, and led the team to its last title, the 1994 2A championship.
"It seems like once a year we're heading up to Reno one way or another," he said, referring to the alternating state championship location between Las Vegas and Reno. "It definitely takes its toll. It's tough to get their legs underneath them. It's not just a one-hour trip; you're taking a couple hours."
Hafen has been through the ups and downs of travel with his team. He was there when traveling to league games meant rides on the school bus to Panaca and Ely, and he was there when trips to state playoff games meant a simple bus ride to McCarran International Airport, followed by an hour-long flight to Reno.
After Sept. 11, 2001, flying football teams across the state was no longer an option. Now, road playoff games mean charter buses, overnight stays and trying to find decent food somewhere along the way -- easier said than done along U.S. 95 between Southern Nevada and Reno, where after hours of desert scrub passing by at 70 mph, the Tonopah McDonald's passes as a gourmet restaurant.
Nonetheless, Virgin Valley quarterback Tyler Thurston said the team finds a way to make the long trips productive. So far, the furthest the Bulldogs have had to venture this year was the 130 miles to Lincoln County High in Panaca.
"We watch movies, read books, watch game film," Thurston said. "It's hard to go out and play -- it's difficult to stay focused after a long bus ride like that."
Thurston's teammate, receiver Todd Allen, said it's easier playing in Mesquite, where the reporter from the nearest daily paper comes from St. George, Utah, 30 miles further up I-15.
"I don't like to travel at all -- it's a long, boring trip," Allen said. "I'd rather play at home. The team's more focused, and you don't have to worry about the problems of travel. But football's the same wherever you play."
That's the attitude the football players at The Meadows, a private 2A school in Summerlin, took last Saturday when they won their quarterfinal game at West Wendover after losing on the same field 24-6 on Oct. 2.
After escaping last week's 373-mile one-way trip with a 19-18 win, the Mustangs will embark Friday for their 2A semifinal game against Pershing County High, 435 miles away in the Northern Nevada town of Lovelock. In the other 2A semifinal, Battle Mountain plays 10 miles south of Nevada's southern tip, at Needles, Calif. Battle Mountain's team will travel 526 miles to get to its game.
Meadows kicker John Curran is a veteran of the long trips. Whereas teams in the 3A South -- which consists of Moapa Valley, Boulder City and Faith Lutheran along with Virgin Valley and Pahrump -- barely leave Clark County until the playoffs, 2A South teams are spread throughout the state.
Laughlin and Faith Lutheran were both members last year, along with Needles, Lincoln County and White Pine in Ely. When Faith Lutheran moved up to 3A and Laughlin downgraded to 1A, West Wendover was moved to the South Region. Most of the 2A North teams are in far western Nevada, meaning that trips to Las Vegas or Needles are really not too much longer than what the bulk of trips in the 2A North would be.
Having been on trips across Nevada, Curran said his teammates have learned to deal with the voyages.
"It gives us a chance to mesh as a team, and build team unity... and play poker. There's a lot of that," he said. "But it's fun going to any town as the away team, get the win, and it's dead silent. There's nothing for them to look forward to except Friday night football games."
Meadows coach Chris Lounsberry said the mid-range trips are actually tougher than the long ones.
"Wendover's tough, but Ely and Milford, those are the toughest," Lounsberry said. "You can't justify staying overnight, so you're getting off the bus, playing the game, and coming home. Those are more difficult than the long ones."
Lounsberry and his team of about 20 players will board the bus to Lovelock midday Friday, also planning on practicing somewhere along the way.
"The kids know what to expect," Lounsberry said. "We just try to keep it real laid-back and relaxed, and try to make it as easy as we can."
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