Little Keystone makes the jump to the big time

Nick Christensen

Friday, Aug. 26, 2005 | 9:12 a.m.

SANDY VALLEY -- As you head toward the zig-zagged row of homes that make up this desert valley, you can't miss the bright yellow sign at the first 90-degree turn on the town's main paved road.

"WANT TO BE A FOOTBALL STAR?"

The sign's been covered by other makeshift ads, but the message is clear for the 2,400 or so residents of town.

Tucked between a pair of mesquite-covered sand dunes, a field of stubbly grass ekes out from the desert soil, freshly cut by jackrabbits that outnumber people here.

One of the rabbits stumbles onto the field, enjoying a late afternoon snack before he looks up in terror as large teenage boys come barreling toward him.

Before their coach can blow the practice play dead, the rabbit is gone, hiding in the sea of sage that stretches infinitely in the distance.

This is home turf for the newest member of the 1A South, Keystone Academy, the only charter high school in Nevada competing in interscholastic sports.

It wasn't long ago that Sandy Valley was the largest town in Nevada that didn't have a high school of its own. Teenagers were faced with a 90-minute bus ride to Las Vegas after ninth grade, and many opted to drop out instead.

While many states make it easy to open a charter school -- essentially, a school run by a local community but under the oversight and funding umbrella of the public district -- Nevada is not one of them. Keystone is one of the few to make it, primarily because it's the only game in town.

"The reason why our school is here - it's not like a charter school in the middle of downtown," Keystone dean and football coach Colt Goodman said. "It's not a slap in the county's face. If we weren't here, 80 percent of these guys would quit. They wouldn't go to school."

Currently, Sandy Valley is zoned for Liberty High School -- 42 miles away.

That means getting up at 4 a.m. for a bus ride to the south Las Vegas campus.

Participation in sports means special trips to town for parents, or leaving practices early to take the late bus home. On game day, a Liberty student from Sandy Valley plans to get home 18 hours after he left.

Some students do see the advantages, Liberty football coach Lou Markouzis said.

"It's just having that bigger school camaraderie feeling. They're used to having a small-town atmosphere, and this allows them to interact with a very diverse campus," he said. "They get that big-city, big-school type of experience."

About 40 students travel to Liberty from Sandy Valley each day, including three that are on this year's football team.

"We work with them and their families to try and make it as easy as possible," Markouzis said. "It's a tough task for them. They do a carpool situation, the older kids that can drive will help the younger ones out."

But close to 60 stay at Keystone, a block down a dirt road from the combined elementary and middle school run by the Clark County School District.

And on Oct. 7, the Diamondbacks will play their first game that counts when they travel to Alamo to take on Pahranagat Valley. In past years, Keystone has played as a 1A independent. Now in the 1A South, the Diamondbacks are eligible for the playoffs.

Goodman, a former assistant at Long Beach State and on Mater Dei High's 1994 championship squad, moved to Sandy Valley four years ago because the town has plenty of space for horse enthusiasts such as himself.

"I went from a Division I college to probably the smallest team in football," he said.

Despite having 17 players on the roster of his eight-man team, Goodman talks excitedly about strategy and the abilities and gifts of his athletes.

Perhaps the Diamondbacks' greatest asset is their size. Sophomore lineman Mike Carlson is 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, joined on the line by senior J.K. Darnell (6-1, 285) and junior Danny Guarado (6-1, 267). And if Goodman could have willed the cast off his quarterback Allen Seaquist's throwing arm, he would have gladly shown off the sophomore's range and receiver Cody Chapman's skills.

Chapman, a senior, knows what to expect now that the big boys - Pahranagat, Spring Mountain, Round Mountain and Laughlin are considered the powerhouses of the 1A.

"The games are going to be harder," he said. "We've seen them over the last couple of years. We have a better line this year. Hopefully they can block and we can be pretty good."

But more important, they'll be playing for their hometown team, and part of something special - something not even Liberty, the smallest school in the 4A South, can provide.

For junior running back Bryan Tillett, who was a Patriot last season, there's no doubt what's more fun.

"They actually gave me a chance here to show what I could do," he said, inadvertently acknowledging that big yellow sign on the edge of town.

The Diamondbacks' first home game is Sept. 10 against Warren-Walker. Their one game in the Las Vegas Valley is Oct. 15 against Calvary Chapel.

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