Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 | 9:23 a.m.
Friday night scores for the state's top 10 teams:
Next Week: at Eldorado (0-1)
Next Week: at North Valleys (1-0)
Next Week: vs. Cimarron-Memorial (1-0)
Next Week: at Las Vegas (0-1)
Next Week: vs. Bishop Manogue (0-0)
Next Week: at Douglas
Next Week: vs. Shadow Ridge (1-0)
Next Week: vs. Spanish Springs (1-0)
Next Week: at Foothill (1-0)
Next Week: vs. Bishop Gorman (0-0)
Scoreboard
Centennial 30, Liberty 20
Mojave 14, Chaparral 12
Del Sol 22, Durango 13
Rancho 27, Clark 13
Cimarron-Memorial 36, Basic 22
Green Valley 35, Sierra Vista 15
Canyon Springs 19, Spring Valley 0
The Meadows 38, Arbor View 22
Spring Creek 35, Elko 14
3A SOUTH
Boulder City: Beat Sparks 50-21
Faith Lutheran: Beat Mineral County 42-0
Moapa Valley: Lost at Carson 31-7
Pahrump Valley: Bye
Virgin Valley: Lost at Dixie (Utah) 44-0
2A SOUTH
Lincoln County: Lost to Pershing Co. 20-7
Needles: Bye
The Meadows: Beat Arbor View 38-22
West Wendover: Lost to Independence 34-16
White Pine: Lost to Milford (Utah) 39-26
1A SOUTH
Beatty: Bye
Calvary Chapel: Bye
Keystone Academy: Bye
Indian Springs: Lost to Carlin 37-6
Lake Mead: Bye
Laughlin: Bye
Lund: Beat Jackpot 28-0
Mountain View: Beat Smith Valley 28-14
Pahranagat Valley: Beat Wells 50-0
Round Mountain: Beat Coleville 48-14
Spring Mountain: Bye
Tonopah: Bye
Warren-Walker: Bye
Cheyenne coach Charles Anthony almost didn't make it to Friday night's opener against Silverado.
Anthony, in his second season coaching the Desert Shield, suffered from dehydration and dizziness Thursday morning and was taken to the hospital. He was kept overnight, and had to do some heavy negotiating to get out Friday afternoon.
He checked out of the hospital at 5 p.m., two hours before kickoff. While he was there on time, Friday's display of turnovers would have been enough to send anybody to QuickCare.
The Skyhawks and Shield combined for 14 fumbles and three interceptions. But it was the fumble that wasn't called that decided Friday's game.
At the 1-yard line on second-and-goal with the game tied at 12 in the final minute of regulation, Cheyenne quarterback Quentin Carter attempted to break toward the end zone to his left. He was brought down by linebacker Kyle Rath, and the ball popped loose.
Carter appeared to be down before the ball came free, but Rath and the Skyhawks disagreed.
"We just got a bad bounce there at the end," Skyhawks coach Doug Thornhill said. "We thought the kid fumbled."
The next play proved crucial, as David Moore broke into the end zone to put Cheyenne up 18-12 with eight seconds left.
Although the Skyhawks were hurt by the late-game no-call, Thornhill said they were irreversably baffled by the double-wing offense that Cheyenne implemented late in the game.
The Desert Shield had 211 yards of total offense Friday -- 138 yards in the second half.
"They got into that Palo Verde double-wing stuff and we had no idea. We weren't prepared for that at all," Thornhill said.
Anthony said the double-wing is one of many offenses his team practices and is ready to use.
"We can't go with one offense," he said. "What we do is run different formations. What it is is a change-up. They see it and they're shocked. They don't know how to adjust to it."
As for the turnovers, both coaches blamed them as symptoms of the first game.
"It's a first-game deal, there's not a lot of veterans on our team," Anthony said.
Thornhill echoed the same.
"It's first-game jitters," he said. "We put the ball on the ground about seven or eight times. It just happens."
Cheyenne travels to Desert Pines next week, while Silverado will host Cimarron-Memorial.
"We're going to put this game behind us immediately," Thornhill said. "These are non-conference games. We're playing for conference."
Once Around Town
The Wildcats lost 34-28 to Pine View at St. George in a battle of teams that advanced to, and lost, their states' championship games.
It was a result that wasn't totally unexpected to Vegas coach Chris Faircloth, whose Wildcats hung on last year to beat Pine View by the same score.
"They're better than last year, I can tell you that," Faircloth said, adding simply, "I like where we're at" when asked if his team has also improved.
Faircloth has been shifting to the University of Utah offense all summer, and said he's finally starting to see some progress in his team's grasp on the system.
"The coaches have done a real good job with the installation of it, and from a player standpoint, I think they're very happy with how it's going," he said. "We're still in the infant stages of it. At least we're getting decent at the basics. That's important and we can make progress from there."
The defense, though, left something to be desired.
"For what we like to do on 'D,' they definitely took advantage of our aggressiveness and did a real good job coaching," he said.
The Wildcats face Bishop Gorman this week in Sunrise Manor. It will be the first time the two teams have played since the 1999 playoffs, when the lights blew in the third quarter with Vegas leading 47-10.
"They're loaded," Faircloth said of the Gaels. "They are literally loaded as far as players go. I was very impressed, I can tell you that. We're going to have to play close to a perfect game to beat them."
D'Angelo Jones ran for 342 yards as the Falcons ran all over the Sundevils. Eldorado was playing without star receiver Davell Jackson, who acknowledged last week that it was questionable whether he'd be eligible to play in the opener.
Jones did his magic, but the Falcons also had some success from first-year quarterback James Silvas.
"He was 6-for-7 throwing the ball, so he's pretty accurate and did a good job taking care of it when we threw it. The other one was a drop," first-year Foothill coach Marty Redmond said.
In a meeting of traditional powerhouses, Foothill hosts defending champion Palo Verde next week in Henderson.
"They're a team we want to compare ourselves against and (they have) a lot of returning seniors, so we know they're going to be very solid," Redmond said. "We still have a long way to go. It was good for the kids to get a win, it shows that hard work pays off."
Russ Libby, a senior defensive tackle, was knocked unconscious while attempting to make a tackle late in Friday's 19-0 loss at Canyon Springs. He was on the field for approximately 30 minutes before being transported to UMC's Trauma Center, where a small group of family members had assembled along with the Healthsouth trainer and a Spring Valley cheerleader late Friday night.
By Sunday, the prognosis was much better. Libby had no paralysis, a concern for those that saw him lay on the field for so long.
"It looked like a regular football play," coach Johnny Macon said.
"When you see one of the kids that has invested a lot of time and you've grown to care about quite a bit, it's tough to see," he said. "At the same time, you have the other players looking at you for direction as well, and it's tough in both instances. Obviously you preach to the guys that the game is a very dangerous game but when things like this happen, it lets you know how dangerous the game is."
Macon said Libby has no memory of the hit, and said he seemed much better when he visited Sunday.
"The thing is that our prayers are with Russell, our coaches' prayers, our players' prayers, the school's prayers," Macon said. "People have been very concerned to see how he's doing, and it's very much appreciated. All those prayers that have been going out are definitely helping."
Jordan rushed for 210 yards on 16 carries, scoring five touchdowns in the Mustangs' 72-16 defeat of Desert Pines. Jordan was pulled early in the third quarter. Receiver Troy Cummings had two touchdown receptions, and George Ortiz had one more.
Shadow Ridge quarterback Chris Robello, who earned the starting job in last week's scrimmage against Bishop Gorman, went went 7-for-10 with 151 passing yards.
"The kids around him have confidence that he has been doing a good job," Mustangs offensive coordinator John Isola said. "Chris Robello right now is executing well and I can't be happier. I need a guy that's able to execute."
Backup William Pope, who was competing with Robello for the starting job through most of camp, connected with sophomore Josh Jordan in the fourth quarter for a touchdown pass. Shadow Ridge plays at Eldorado next week.
archive
