Del Sol set to fight Basic in semifinal showdown

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008 | 2:45 p.m.

Del Sol senior fullback Jon Kirschbaum is no stranger to meaningful football playoff games.

He's started and been a key contributor the past two years as the Dragons have advanced to the Sunrise Regional championship game.

And, with a spot in this year's title game on the line Friday, Kirschbaum will have a chance to add to his legacy.

Del Sol travels to Basic for the Sunrise semifinals at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the next week's title game.

It's a familiar spot for Kirschbaum. This year, however, he plans to lead Del Sol to the championship where they've lost to Las Vegas High both years.

"It's like revenge and payback for me," Kirschbaum said. "I've strived to get back to that point again."

Getting past Basic in the semifinals won't be easy.

The two schools played Oct. 24, and even though Del Sol was victorious 28-27, Basic could have easily won the game. It missed two short field goals in the fourth quarter.

"We need to play smart and penalty-free," Del Sol coach Preston Goroff said. "That first game we kind of shot ourselves in the foot and kept some drives alive for them."

Del Sol's Derek Eamon rushed for 285 yards and five touchdowns Nov. 7 in the Dragons' 72-47 victory at Rancho in the Sunrise quarterfinals and the Dragons are expected to rely on their running game against Basic.

Del Sol rushed for more than 400 yards in its first meeting with the Wolves, and Basic coach Jeff Cahill knows his team will have to do a better job stopping the ground attack.

"They have strong running backs who are hard to tackle," Cahill said. "But we still had a chance to win at the end of the game, and that is all we can ask for."

Basic, which won the Southeast Division and is seeded No. 1 in the postseason, rallied from a 21-7 first-half deficit against Valley on Nov. 7 for a 34-21 quarterfinal victory.

"Our kids didn't panic or blame each other," Cahill said. "They said, 'Let's play hard the whole game and see what happens.'"

Some consider Basic being one of the final eight teams still playing in Southern Nevada's large-school classification a surprise. But not the school's players and coaches.

"We thought we were better than anyone else thought we were," Cahill said. "The kids are proving us right."

Basic is led by quarterback Robby Faiman, who has passed for 1,215 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for another eight touchdowns. But he only accounted for one touchdown in the first game with Del Sol and struggled with the Dragons physical style of play.

"We have to do a better job protecting Robby," Cahill said. "He took a lot of hits in that first game."

Green Valley travels to five-time defending region champion Las Vegas for the other semifinal game. The Gators beat Desert Pines 32-12 on Nov. 7 in the quarterfinals for their first playoff win in 11 years.

Green Valley led Desert Pines 32-0 at halftime, but struggled in the second half and didn't pick-up a first down.

"I'm happy with the win but I'm upset with the second half," said quarterback Nick Libonati, who passed for a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. "We didn't have that killer instinct we wanted to have. Against Las Vegas, we're going to have to play four quarters of intense football."

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@hbcpub.com.