Valley’s offense will feature explosive athletes

By Case Keefer (contact)

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

For Valley High coach John Elwell, senior quarterback Trey Dean represents everything about Valley football.

“We like to play physical football at Valley,” Elwell said. “To have a physical quarterback, it kind of fits in with our personality. He’s a strong, tough kid we can lean on in tough times.”

Dean will be the Vikings’ starting quarterback this season, but don’t expect him to play like a normal quarterback. He’ll never shy away from contact and will also start defensively at safety.

Offensively, Dean’s objective will be to get the ball in the hands of senior receivers Garic Wharton and Mitchell Deas. Together, Wharton and Deas form perhaps the most athletic duo of receivers in the valley — Wharton, an Arizona commit, holds the state track record for the 100 and 200 meter races..

“With the speed we’ve got, there are definitely going to be some big plays,” Elwell said. “Similar to last year, we will make two or three long runs in a game and if we can stop anybody, we will win some football games.”

Defensively, the Vikings are led by senior defensive end Suki Wilks, who Elwell said would emerge as one of the best defensive linemen in Las Vegas. Elwell believes Wilks will require constant double teams, which will free up the rest of the defense.

“He has quickness like our running backs or receivers,” Elwell said. “He’s so quick off the ball, it makes it tough for teams to block him.”

Last year, Valley went 5-4 but dropped two games in the final seconds. The Vikings also suffered a narrow loss in the Sunrise Regional quarterfinals against Southeast Division champion Basic.

Elwell hopes an athletic roster and improved defense can be the difference this season.

“We lost some heart breakers,” Elwell said. “We’re going to be entrenched in a lot of close games again this year.”

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