prep football preview:

Bonanza hopes to compete with league’s top teams

Sam Morris

Bonanza football players De Sean Martin, left, and Franz Ferguson Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009.

Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Going into their final two regular season games last season, the Bonanza High Bengals were rolling.

They had won six straight games, were headed to the playoffs and believed they could play with anyone. Then, Bonanza ran into Spring Valley and Bishop Gorman and lost by a combined score of 79-14 in the two games. They closed the season with a third straight defeat, falling in the Sunset Regional quarterfinals to Cheyenne.

Heading into the 2009 season, those games are what coach Shawn Dupris wants his team to remember the most.

“If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” Dupris said. “It was good for us to measure ourselves a little bit and see what we needed to work on going into the offseason.”

One of the areas that needed work was team speed. Since the end of last season, Dupris says speed has turned into the Bengals’ biggest strength — particularly on defense. Senior linebacker Franz Ferguson is quick and vicious and surrounded by a group of playmakers.

“We run an attacking style defense,” Dupris said. “We’ve got four linebackers returning, two defensive ends and our entire defensive backfield returning. We’re pretty happy about what we’ve got going on defense.”

Offensively, junior quarterback Sterling Sprau and senior offensive lineman Deante Perez lead the Bengals. And Dupris says to look for junior running back DeSean Martin to break out.

Martin competed at a national weightlifting competition in the offseason and impressed Dupris by recording a 30-inch vertical leap.

“His marks are off the board,” Dupris said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how his season goes.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or at case.keefer@lasvegassun.com.

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