Wildcats poised to finish the job

Nick Christensen

Friday, Nov. 26, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.

The motto at Las Vegas High School this year is "unfinished business."

Unfinished, because last year's Vegas team survived injuries and the death of teammate Edward Gomez to make it to the state championship game -- only to lose by three to Reno at Mackay Stadium.

But there's more to it than that. No Southern Nevada team has gone to Reno for a state semifinal game and won. And Las Vegas faces a challenge as great as any -- Northern champion Reed already has proven it can deal with a running-dominated team like Las Vegas.

In a Northern Region semifinal, Reed defeated Hug 26-7, holding Hawks running back Isaac Porter to just 80 yards, after Porter ran for 2,361 yards on 205 carries.

Vegas running back Eric Jordan led Southern Nevada, with 2,059 yards on 275 carries. Sound familiar?

"There's some similarities," Reed coach Ernie Howren said. "They're just like Hug in the way they have a big offensive line that comes off the ball real well. They have two backs, Hug had two or three backs that could get the ball and in one play go all the way -- those kinds of guys."

Vegas coach Chris Faircloth watched the tape of that Northern semifinal game, and was impressed by what the Raiders did to Porter.

"They just shut him down," Faircloth said. "He got loose on the edge, had one play for about 20 yards, and they put on a stranglehold after that."

Reed has had a more balanced team, with quarterback Zack May completing 110 of 188 passes for 1,533 yards this year, and running back Ryan Lammie compiling 2,187 yards on 297 carries, including last week's touchdown run to put the Raiders ahead of McQueen for good.

"He's just a phenomenal back," Howren said of Lammie. "He sees the field so well. When we need him to step up, we give him the ball and he'll take care of it.

Just as Las Vegas is similar to Hug in their attack, Faircloth said Reed reminds him of division rival Eldorado, which won at Vegas in October but lost in the playoffs.

"They've got really good skill positions," Faircloth said. "They've got a good running back, a good quarterback that really reminds me of (Eldorado's Brandon) Godfrey. They spread the field and run, spread the field and pass. It's hard to really get a handle on them."

Since losing to Eldorado, Las Vegas has rolled off six consecutive wins by an average of 27 points per game. Howren said the thing he noticed from scouting Vegas, though, was the intensity with which Wildcats players approach the game.

"It looks like they play with a lot of enthusiasm," Howren said. "You watch the sidelines, you watch them on the field, and they have a lot of excitement."

Sure enough, Jordan talked about "unfinished business" when asked about the approach to this year's playoffs, after sitting on the sideline with injury for last year's heartbreaking postseason.

"Last year we came up short, and we practiced all summer to get better," Jordan said. "This is the game we've been waiting for. We're really good, people thought we're not as good in the south. We've got to go up and try to change their minds."