Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Nick Christensen: It gets more interesting when they count

Nick Christensen covers high school athletics for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at [email protected].

1. McQueen (4-0)

Lancers blow out Churchill County 50-0

2. Palo Verde (4-0)

Panthers strong heading into NW play

3. Foothill (5-0)

Another low-scoring week left coach Fenton frustrated

4. Reed (5-0)

Shut out Carson last week

5. Bishop Manogue (6-0)

Came back for 34-24 win at Elko last week, then blew out Reno Thursday

6. Eldorado (3-2)

But losses came to Palo Verde and Foothill

7. Spanish Springs (4-1)

Downed struggling Galena 29-10

8. Sierra Vista (4-1)

Best team in the Southwest

9. Douglas (3-1)

Win over North Valleys moves up Tigers

10. Las Vegas (4-1)

Sound defeat by Cheyenne moves them down

Compiled by the Las Vegas Sun and the Sparks Tribune

It won't be a low-scoring game, with Las Vegas' two top offenses facing off tonight as league play opens in the Northwest Division.

And it won't be a shootout, with two of Las Vegas' three best defenses taking the field to try to contain the scoring.

But one thing is for sure when Cimarron-Memorial plays host to Shadow Ridge tonight at 7 -- on paper, it's one great game.

Both teams are 3-1, with the Spartans losing 20-7 in their opener against third-ranked Foothill, and Shadow Ridge falling 23-21 at home against sixth-ranked Eldorado. A lot of both teams' scoring has come against struggling opponents -- the teams they've beaten have a combined five wins -- but with Cimarron averaging 46.5 points per game, and the Mustangs scoring 44.75, the offenses have the ability to blow teams out.

On defense, Shadow Ridge averages 7.25 points per game allowed, with Cimarron right behind at 8.5.

"We both played teams that we showed we can overpower and each played a good team," Shadow Ridge coach J.D. Johnson said. "I think we're evenly matched. We'll have to maintain the Hatch kid, and get after him up front on offense."

After struggling against Foothill in the first week, Cimarron quarterback Andrew Hatch has totaled 514 yards, on 24-for-43 passing. He has eight touchdowns and one interception.

"I'm really pleased with what the team's done," Cimarron coach Ron Smeltzer said of his team's progress since the opener. "They've worked very hard and it's shown. We are steadily progressing and getting better with each game."

But things were a lot easier when they were playing the Ranchos, Basics, and Chaparrals of the world. With league play beginning, and five good Northwest Division teams vying for four playoff spots, there isn't a game on either team's schedule that isn't critical.

"My concern is, do we deserve to be in the playoffs?" Smeltzer said. "We deserve it if we beat the teams we're supposed to beat. If you can't beat the teams in your league, you don't deserve to be in the playoffs. It's cut and dried."

Beyond that, Johnson said he's worried about the general atmosphere of the game.

"There's a lot of emotion going into it for them, being their homecoming game," he said. "That's typical of teams to schedule a second-year school as a homecoming game. We did pretty well against them at camp, but camp is over now. I think it's going to be a fantastic football game."

Spread around town

Who made this schedule?

The first thought after taking a look at the games scheduled for this week, but before flipping through the pages to see the rest of the season, was "The Clashes of Titans will all be in one week," the expectation being to see Palo Verde-Cimarron, Eldorado-Las Vegas, Foothill-Green Valley and Sierra Vista-Bishop Gorman all scheduled for the same night.

Luckily, the great games are staggered. Eldorado-Vegas and Foothill-Green Valley are next week, Palo-Cimarron two weeks later, and the Gaels play host to Sierra Vista at Valley on the Nevada Day Eve regular-season-ending Thursday.

The bad news is that leaves us with quite a few games with only one strong team. Every team is playing here on out, and sure, there will be some upsets along the way, but as a whole, tonight's games just don't look that great -- even in the Northwest.

Nonetheless, tonight's games figure to be exciting simply because they finally count. In all of these leagues, two wins from here on out should get a team into the playoffs. An upset in any of these games gets a team halfway there, and likely costs a team at a shot at a No. 1 seed.

Meanwhile, don't ignore what's going on up North. The Sierra League teams are a combined 7-13 against the powerhouse High Desert League, which could easily sweep the Northern first-round games. Bishop Manogue hasn't lost a game seemingly since the first Catholic moved to Reno, and McQueen is back to late-1990s form with a 4-0 start. Reed lurks with a 5-0 record as well, and frankly, it's quite possible that with the state semifinals' two berths going to the North ... well ... we'll try to put the thought of two teams playing three times in a season in a deep, dark place until late November.

All of our games on this side of the Silver State start at 7 tonight.

The call: Las Vegas 48, Chaparral 7.

The call: Eldorado 40, Rancho 14.

The call: Desert Pines 27, Valley 20.

The call: Silverado 33, Basic 6.

The call: Green Valley 26, Coronado 13.

The call: Foothill 48, Liberty 0.

The call: Sierra Vista 45, Clark 6.

The call: Bishop Gorman 27, Bonanza 20.

The call: Western 34, Durango 14.

The call: Palo Verde 37, Centennial 20.

The call: Cimarron 31, Shadow Ridge 28

The call: Cheyenne 24, Mojave 20.

The call: Canyon Springs 24, Del Sol 12.

The call: Faith Lutheran 32, Spring Valley 14.

Last week: 13-2 (.867).

This year: 53-12 (.815).

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