Las Vegas High adapting well to new offense, new star

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

Week by week, the questions surrounding Las Vegas High's football team are starting to be answered.

Week One -- Would the Wildcats be competitive?

They played their opener in St. George at Pine View, a school that was the Utah 3A runner-up in 2004, and a school that if in Nevada would have the enrollment to compete as a 4A school.

Although Vegas lost 34-28 to Pine View (now 3-0), it showed that the Wildcats were adapting to this year's new offense with much greater ease than last year's transition to a new defensive scheme.

Week Two -- Would the offense start to click?

It didn't take long to figure this out. In front of a near-capacity crowd at Frank Nails Field on Friday night, the Wildcats dominated Bishop Gorman in one of the most anticipated games of the season. The only weak spot of the Vegas attack was red zone offense, but the Wildcats even figured that one out by the end of their 34-19 victory.

"We're more consistent on our assignments," coach Chris Faircloth said of the growth of the offense. "We run our routes better. Still, we're not at the completion percentage we'd like to be. What we are happy about is people have to play us in the pass, which really helps our running game."

That wasn't the case last year, as there was little secret that the ball was going to Eric Jordan.

When Jordan moved to Shadow Ridge last year for his senior season, those around the Vegas program insisted that understudy Jamal Lomax was more than ready to replace the state's all-time leading 4A rusher.

"We knew he was capable of doing what he's been asked to do here," Faircloth said. "You always second-guess yourself -- 'Maybe, maybe not.' He's left no doubt. He plays so hard every down it's amazing."

Last week against Gorman, Lomax finished with 217 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries. That roughly matched his 34 carries for 218 yards at Pine View.

"I've heard no complaints from anybody," Lomax said of replacing Jordan. "You just make the most out of it. I have to make the most out of my opportunities."

He said he wasn't at all skeptical when the Wildcats opted for Mike Sanford's pass-heavy "Utah" offense.

"I was real excited about it because they switched the offense to relate to the type of players we have on the team," he said. "It's a spread-out, finesse type thing. We have good linemen, but they're not as big as they were in the past. We spread the ball around a lot.

"That's good," he said, laughing.

Quarterback O'Ryan Bradley is 21-for-51 passing this year for 298 yards.

Faircloth has been impressed with Lomax's adaptation to the offense.

"Whatever we ask of him he does. If we tell him he's not going to get a carry for 15 carries, he does it," Faircloth said. "He's a very coachable kid. He grasps things very well. We're very fortunate to have another very good back."

So on to Week Three -- Will the Wildcats learn from the mistakes of the past?

Last September, Cheyenne rolled onto Frenchman's Mountain and embarrassed the then 3-0 Wildcats with a 27-6 reality check.

Vegas travels to North Las Vegas with hopes of returning the favor to the 2-0 Desert Shield this week.

"I think we just got outplayed last year," Lomax said. "This year, there's not that much of an element of surprise. We know what we've got to do as long as we stay focused. I don't think it'll be much of a surprise. Cheyenne's a good team. They're athletic, they go right to the ball. They play real hard."

September 23, 2004 seems to be well-etched into Faircloth's mind as well.

"Our kids and coaches are very conscious of what happened last year. We got our tails kicked," he said. "We definitely thought we were something we weren't going into that game and Cheyenne outplayed us in every phase of the game.

"I'm sure we definitely don't have the same attitude going into this game."

Coming tomorrow: Checking in with the 0-2 Sundevils, plus a look "Once Around Town" at teams' preparations for Week 3.