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Members of Palo Verde’s team sit on the field in defeat after the game Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008, at the Mackay Stadium in Reno. The Lancers beat the Panthers, 13-12.
Published Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008 | 12:13 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008 | 3:54 p.m.
State Title Slips Away
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After running through its first fourteen opponents, Palo Verde falls short in the 4A state championship, losing to McQueen 13-12 Saturday.
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- Prep Sports Now 12/6/08
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RENO — After scoring 537 points in 14 games, Palo Verde's entire football season came down to one point.
That single point, a missed extra point by sophomore kicker Garrett Dunlap in the first quarter, was the difference between the Panthers and Reno's McQueen High School Lancers Saturday as Palo Verde fell short of a 4A state championship 13-12 in front of 5,500 fans at UNR's Mackay Stadium.
Trailing 7-0 early in the first quarter, Palo Verde's Torin Harris scrambled 24 yards for what seemed like the game tying score. But Dunlap's missed extra point left the Panthers behind 7-6.
The Panthers unsuccessfully attempted a two-point conversion on their second touchdown, which left Palo Verde clinging to a 12-7 lead late in the third quarter.
"I don't want to make excuses for the kid, but If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have taken him out to UNLV and let him kick some balls out there," said Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost. "I think what happened was is he took his eye off the ball when he kicked. But he is going to be a great kicker for us. He’s a great kid and a great student."
Palo Verde and McQueen spent most of the second half mired in a defensive battle until Tyrone Blake broke a 54-yard touchdown run to put the Panthers on top 12-7.
The Panther faithful in attendance were less than three minutes from celebrating a state title when Rost decided to punt on a fourth-and-one from Palo Verde's own 34-yard line.
"We had to punt the ball there," Rost said. "You think about going for it,but not in a game like this. You have to get field position."
The very next play, McQueen's Anthony Martinez burst through the Panthers' defense for a 59-yard touchdown run. A failed two-point conversion left McQueen on top by one point - all that was needed for the victory.
"Hats off to Ken Dalton and his group, they played a great defensive game today," Rost said.
Fourth quarter:
- This is it - one quarter to go. Palo Verde is 12 minutes from a state championship, but McQueen is stringing together a solid drive.
- Facing a fourth and five from the 24-yard line, McQueen opted to not kick a field goal and the Palo Verde defense did not falter. The Panthers now have possession with less than nine minutes to play.
- Torin Harris went down again, but after a visit by the medical staff he appears to be fine.
- Palo Verde's offense stalled and McQueen will now start a drive from its own 41-yard line with 5:58 left in the game. But once again the Panthers' defense came up huge as the Lancers have to punt once again.
- Coach Rost is not taking any chances. With 3:06 on the clock and with his team facing a fourth-and-one from on its own 34-yard line, Rost sent in the punt team, which will give the Lancers one more chance to win the game.
- McQueen will start what could be a championship clinching drive on its own 41-yard line with 2:58 remaining in the game. The Lancers wasted no time making this one a nail biter. On the very first play, senior Anthony Martinez sprinted 59-yards to pay dirt. The ensuing two-point conversion failed, so McQueen will try to cling to a 13-12 lead with 2:47 left to play.
- I think it is safe to say this might be the final drive as Palo Verde starts on its own 20-yard line trailing 13-12. Remember, Dunlap missed an extra point in the first quarter, which is the difference in this game right now.
- Elvis is warming up his car. Kelly Zurowski threw an interception -- Martinez, who just scored the potential game-winning touchdown, picked off the pass. All the Lancers have to do is maintain possession of the ball and this one is in the books.
- McQueen is the new 4A state champion with a 13-12 victory. Stay tuned for more stories, podcasts, photos and videos.
Third quarter:
- McQueen sophomore Nick Shepherd opened the second half with a 50-yard kickoff return, but the Lancers were not able to produce many positive yards on offense. Chris Stocker's punt was a beauty though as Palo Verde will start from its own seven-yard line.
- Anyone who took the under on this game should probably start counting on that cash, because this championship has turned into a true defensive battle.
- The Panthers dodged another bullet as a crew of Lancer defenders sandwiched Zurowski and caused the ball to come loose, but the ref ruled that Zurowski had thrown the ball while getting hit, so it was an incomplete pass. Two plays later Tyrone Blake unleashed his speed for a 54-yard touchdown run with 1:55 remaining in the third quarter. Sidney Hodge's two-point conversion attempt failed, though. Palo Verde now leads 12-7 heading into the final quarter.
First half statistics:
- Palo Verde: Rushing - 128 yards on 22 carries; Passing - 4-for-7 for 19 yards with one interception.
- McQueen: Rushing - 112 yards on 19 carries; Passing - 3-for-6 for 18 yards.
- Thomas leads the Panthers with 51 rushing yards on nine carries, while Tyler York leads the Lancers with 60 yards on 12 carries. Defensively, David Castro leads Palo Verde with 6.5 tackles and Karrington Armstrong has four tackles for McQueen.
Second quarter:
- McQueen's Martinez just missed a 43-yard field goal wide left so Palo Verde now has a chance to take the lead on this upcoming drive.
- Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost's worst nightmare came true as USC-bound Torin Harris injured his ankle after catching a screen pass. Harris tried to limp off, but fell to the turf. After some attention from the medical staff, Harris gingerly walked to the sidelines. It appears that he injured his right ankle.
- Harris is back in the game and just in time because the Panthers' defense came up huge on that last drive. Palo Verde will start perhaps the final drive of the half from its own 39-yard line with 3:26 left in the first half.
- I guess even high school football is not immune to interesting referee decisions. Palo Verde lined up to kick a 42-yard field goal with 45 seconds remaining in the half. Dunlap's kick was short, but he took a huge hit while kicking. Initially the refs called a "roughing the kicker" penalty, which would give the Panthers a first down in the red zone. But a few minutes later the refs changed the ruling to "running into the kicker" to set up a fourth and short situation. The Panthers tried a shovel pass to Thomas, but came up short. So after a wild finish to the first half courtesy of the zebras, McQueen maintains a 7-6 lead heading into the locker room.
First quarter:
- So much for that weird 12:07 kickoff time set by the NIAA. McQueen just kicked off at 12:13 p.m. and Anthony Martinez's boot was a beauty as it landed in the back of the end zone. The Panthers will start on this contest on their own 20-yard line.
- Palo Verde's first drive was very short lived as Kelly Zurowski threw an interception less than two minutes into the game. The Lancers took over on their own 43-yard line and have put together a nice drive thanks to the hard running by senior Anthony Martinez. McQueen is set up with first and goal on the five-yard line with 8:52 remaining in the first quarter.
- McQueen just delivered the opening blow as Martinez punched in a one-yard touchdown to hand the Lancers a 7-0 lead with 8:15 left in the quarter.
- Palo Verde's Torin Harris just did what he does bet, which is find the end zone. Harris broke a 28-yard touchdown scramble with 3:55 remaining in the opening quarter. But Garrett Dunlap's extra point hit the upright, so the Panthers trail 7-6.
- At the end of the first quarter the score remains 7-6 in favor of McQueen. Martinez leads McQueen with 49 yards on four rushes while Palo Verde's Chaz Thomas has 29 yards on five carries.
Pregame:
- Alright football fans, the Las Vegas Sun/Home News crew just landed in Reno and it is time for the 4A football state championship between the Palo Verde Panthers (14-0) and Reno's McQueen Lancers (13-0). Kickoff is set for 12:07 p.m. and be sure to keep visiting www.lasvegassun.com throughout the day because we have stories, photos, blogs, podcasts and video from this game. Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost is allowing the Sun's video crew all-access to the Panthers' locker room, so you can expect one killer video from the All-In crew.
- But first, a few quick observations:
- 1. The turf at Mackay Stadium is like cement. There is no give on this field, which means Palo Verde's speed will have an advantage over McQueen's size.
- 2. The crowd is absolutely partisan in favor of the Lancers, but that is no surprise. What is is a surprise is that it seems like McQueen coach Ken Dalton dressed every kid in Reno. There must be close to 75 players in uniform warming up for the Lancers right now.
- 3. The first half will dictate the outcome of this game. Palo Verde must shake their nerves to win. McQueen has played in the state title game the past two years and that experience is invaluable. The most pressing question prior to this game is how will the Panthers perform under this pressure after a long bus ride and a night in a hotel?
Steve Silver can be reached at 948-7822 or steve.silver@lasvegassun.com.
this game seems like its tight
i wish i was over der watching it
they should of passed this game on the tv
dammit :-/
Vegas, I guess I do have a bit of egg on my face for that feature, but then again, I'm glad I profiled the kicker because he played a big role in the outcome of this game.
I didn't get to see your original post, so I apologize if it was removed hastily.
I love your passion.
Snap and hold looked clean from my seat. Ball just hit the post. Was in the first quarter, so still a lot of game to overcome this, but in a game this tight with teams of this caliber it turned out to be huge.
The hype of the game lived up to the billing of two titans clashing for the title and both teams left it all on the field.
The talent level on both sides of the field was impressive!
I didn't see the comment that was removed, but I have a pretty good idea why it was deleted.
We don't have a problem at all with anyone posting on these foums, as long as they abide by the rules.
The full comments policy is here:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/about/useragr...
And here are the exact parts of the rules that get the most amount of posts deleted, and I'm guessing are the parts of our rules that likely applied to the post that was deleted earlier today on this story.
* Agree to be nice. Yes, it is OK to have an intelligent discussion where points are debated. The management and editors of LasVegasSun.com want and encourage that. As stated on nearly every page of this site where readers can post, our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language.
* Agree not to use this forum for personal attacks. This includes any sort of personal attack -- including, but not limited to the people in our stories, the journalists who create these stories, or anyone else in this community.
+++
You can disagree with our writers all you want. And you can definitely disagree with coaches' moves.
:)
You can make points that show a different and better line of reasoning. In fact, we hope you will do that!
But you can't be mean or resort to name-calling.
Like I said earlier, I never saw your post about Palo Verde's coach, but I can assure you that if you replaced his name with the name of the McQueen coach -- or some random high school coach in California -- it would have been deleted as well.
That doesn't mean you can't criticize. It means posts can't be mean.
The failed 2 pt conversion after the second touchdown was just as big as the missed PAT.
Hard for me to disagree with the punt in the fourth quarter. Make McQ go farther. Fourth and short against this defense is no gimme, and considering field position..
Both the Palo Verde and McQ defensive game plans were solid.
This was the first time this year that McQ trailed in the second half.
For all of those cheering against Palo, congrats on your ability to celebrate a hard fought win. For all of those cheering for Palo, I am with you in your disappointment on the loss. I am however, not disappointed in our players at all. They fought hard all season and gave us the game of a lifetime on Saturday.
Say what you will about the Palo football team, and spread all the rumors about zone variances and bad coaching. Palo made it to the SHOW this year and worked hard to get there, the players and the coaches. McQueen had a fight on there hands and they came out on top. It was fun to watch in person.
I am a parent that believes that competition is good for our kids. It teaches them how to shoot for goals higher then they thought they could. It also teaches them how to be good winners and good losers. From some of the post I have seen all season long it looks like there are others that need to be taught this lesson.
As for the kicker, he is a former soccer player and kicked for the JV team all season long. There was a lot of pressure on our 15, 16, and 17-year-old young men on both sides. Good for them for stepping up and taking on the challenge of a lifetime. Besides, he was not the only player on the field.
Before you post about how GLAD you are the opposing team lost, just ask yourself" When was the last time you got to play football in a college stadium in front of family, friends and fans.
Palo is a great club has great community base support and I am proud to be the parent of a Palo football player.
On to next season!
I would like to start by congradulating both teams for an excellent season. Now....IF the kicker makes the extra point, they have 13 points, McQueen scores, they have 13. MCQ kicks the extra the point rather than go for the two to put them up by a field goal. 4th and 1 on your own 35. What are you thinking about. McQ has stopped them before, they are fired up...why give anyone a short a field. Explains why some people are not coaches, others are. I was at the game, and it was in my opinion, for what its worth, the best state game in history. The players from Palo Verde were trash talking, but not cussing and swearing, same with McQ players. It was a clean game, a great battle, and I have nothing but respect for all the players. Missing an extra point is all part of the game. It happens, quit ragging on that kicker. No one on the field was a pro, everyone made mistakes. Palo Verde had a good year, I followed them in the paper all year, as I knew, we would play them for the state championship game this year. I am proud of all the players that were on the field, all the fans in the stands, and the great game the refs called. Very few penalties. It is sad to see anyone who had a great season like this end like this, but it happens every year. My son is a senior at McQueen, and he will take the loss to Gorman last year with him, the win this year with him for the rest of his life, as he was a part of the greatest state game played in Nevada. Again, congrats to both teams on their great seasons.