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Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun
Palo Verde High cheerleaders hold a tribute sign in memory of defensive coordinator Dave Castro as the Panthers storm the field after halftime during their game against Faith Lutheran Friday night. The Panthers were victorious 76-21.
Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009 | 12:51 a.m.
Palo Verde coach Dave Castro talks to some of his players during practice Friday afternoon at Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nev. Palo Verde will face McQueen High School in the 4A high school championship game Saturday.
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A sad week for local football
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Las Vegas Sun reporters Ray Brewer and Steve Silver remember former Palo Verde coach David Castro while looking ahead to this week's games.
Palo Verde defensive coordinator Dave Castro usually sounded like a broken record on Friday nights during his halftime speech.
Regardless of the score, Castro’s message was always the same — finish strong and play with pride.
That’s exactly what the Panthers did Friday night in their first game since Castro died on Oct. 17, closing with 55 unanswered points in a 76-21 victory against visiting Faith Lutheran.
Castro died of cardiac arrest hours after Palo Verde beat Arbor View last week. He was 54.
Friday night’s game, at least early, wasn’t as lopsided as the final score indicated.
The players were guilty of trying too hard to honor their coach in the first quarter and Faith Lutheran quarterback Joe Portaro returned from a five-week absence to pass for three touchdowns in the initial 12 minutes.
Then, as Castro would have liked, the Panthers closed the game with eight straight touchdowns in breaking the school’s single-game scoring record.
“Nobody can step in and do his job,” said Brian Cox, Palo Verde’s defensive backs coach who shared Castro’s defensive play calling duties with line coach Antone Hazzard. “You don’t replace a Dave Castro. Period.”
The Panthers (8-1) did have a Castro on the sideline Friday night. Dave Castro Jr., coach Castro’s oldest son and a 2009 Palo Verde graduate, returned from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., hours after learning his father had died.
The funeral was Wednesday and the burial followed on Thursday. Castro Jr., who anchored Palo Verde’s defense for most of the past three years, helped coach his father’s defense all week.
He clearly resembled his father on the sideline while instructing linebackers in the middle of the game. Like his father, Castro Jr. is short, stocky and full of passion for football.
“I guess this comes natural,” Castro Jr. said.
The school honored Castro with helmet decals bearing his initials, ‘DC.’ The initials were also painted at midfield in big letters, while every player had messages to Castro on their uniform.
It was a touching tribute for a man whose hard-nosed coaching style was popular with his athletes.
“(The tributes) just blow me away,” Castro Jr. said. “It says to me that everyone loved him as much as we did. … One guy came up to me and told me how he respected my dad because he treated everyone like a man.”
Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost, who is usually one of the area’s most animated coaches on the sideline, was clearly exhausted from dealing with the emotions of the week.
The death came as a shock to everyone and it took awhile for players and coaches alike to get back into football-mode.
“We told the kids at halftime that the score was 0-0 and to play football like coach Castro would want you to,” Rost said.
And, defensive lineman Doug Stultz, did just that. He recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter to give the Panthers a 55-21 lead with 6:15 to play.
The touchdown is something Stultz said he would always cherish.
“I can’t put into words how special that was,” Stultz said. “That was for him. Something I know he would have wanted.”
Senior Tyrone Blake, a four-year member of the varsity squad who considered Castro a second father, followed with two touchdowns to close the third quarter. He scored on a 44-yard run and a 57-yard punt return to the build the lead to 69-21.
Ernest Hall's 33-yard run with 1:42 to play broke the scoring record.
“We just had too much emotion in the first quarter with trying to play for coach,” said Blake, who also threw a touchdown and intercepted a pass. “Then, coach Rost told us it was time to settle down and play Panther football.”
Chapelle Thomas and Brandon Wright each had three touchdown runs for the Panthers, including an 80-yard scoring run from Thomas with 1:09 to play in the first half to give Palo Verde a 42-21 lead.
Portaro returned for Faith Lutheran after injuring his hand Sept. 11 against Centennial. He passed for 298 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, including scoring strikes of 12 yards to Matt Snodgrass, and 9 and 40 yards to Don Pearson.
“Obviously it was good to get Joe back,” Faith Lutheran coach Jake Kothe said. “I was proud of our kids for fighting hard.”
Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@lasvegassun.com.
Honor the coach by beating the crud out of an opponent?
Not very classy.
Please. Give the kids a break. There are winners and there are losers, and though normally you try to not run up a score, in this case, it was a healthy way of expressing or venting grief. Would you have been happier if Palo Verde had lost?
RIP Coach Castro, via Clark High School, 1980s.
Reza, I agree, these kids weren't "running up the score" they were showing their love and the emotions needed a healthy release.
There was no honor in the way Palo played last night. Honor is not defined by winning or loosing. Palo exihibited the worse level of sportsmanship that I have seen in a long time. One player ejected early for throwing punches followed by a total of at least 5 unsportsman penalties - and those were the ones that were called. It was a shame, Palo has some real talent, but that talent is overshawdowed by their total LACK of honor. It is likely though that they played how they were taught, I place the blame on the coaches. Were the kids running up the score? No, the coaches are responsible for leaving in the first team until the forth quarter.
Palo Verde haters will ALWAYS find something bad to say about them. It's like politics -- Republicans will always find something egregious to say about Democrats, and vice versa. Enough is enough with all the hate against solid programs!
To further expand Ray Brewer's point he made earlier in the week... it's funny how people are quick to pull out the sympathy card for Faith Lutheran, but it's okay to blast Bishop Gorman for anything they do, win or lose. They're both private schools... shouldn't you hate them both? Let's get some equal treatment here!
My prior comment did not seek any sypathy for Faith Lutheran - no question Palo had the better team. The comment chain is about honoring a coach. Based on the comment from the former Palo parent - the team did just what the former coach would have wanted. Sorry for the families lose, but his passing will be better for high school football.
Hate Palo? No! Hate any football program with the lack of honor that Palo exhibited - every day of my life.
hey, letsciencedecide...how in the world can you come up with the classless statement of a revered coach's passing is better for high school football?...you are the one with the lack of honor... did you notice that palo subbed all their starters before the end of the 3rd quarter?-faith left their guys in until the end of the game!! And they were still passing the ball!!!! did palo pass the ball in the second half? no!! get a clue....or tell your buddies at faith to get better...don't disrespect a guy that gave a lot of his personal time to the kids he coached over the years...
letsciencedecide:
Palo Verde does NOT lack honor at all. Do you remember the Las Vegas High player, Eddie Gomez, that suddenly died in 2003 just days after taking a hit to the head in the Sunrise Region championship game against Desert Pines? LVHS had to lay him to rest the same week before facing Palo Verde in the state semifinals that Saturday. Las Vegas won the state semifinal game, 34-7, and despite the defeat, Palo Verde performed a gesture of utmost respect. During the handshakes, each of the players carried a rose to the Las Vegas sideline and put them all in a basket and handed them to the family of the fallen Las Vegas High football player. Very classy, and HONORABLE.
So you can't say that Palo is not honorable, because that is NOT TRUE.
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qb123:
I agree with your first (and only) point that letsciencedecide lacks honor in saying that this death was for the best. Just plain rude, and wrong! But nothing else really made sense. If you've seen Palo Verde play, they are NOT a passing team by any means. That couldn't be more true this year. They are a team that runs the ball into the ground until the cows come home. Can't blame Rost for leaving the first team in the game through the 3rd quarter, because they need the exposure. If you can't tackle or play defense, this is what happens to you when you play a team with a powerful offense. True, 76 points looks excessive at first sight, but it's ultimately what Coach Castro would have liked to see -- the Panthers playing defense the way he taught them to, and executing the way they are expected to. It's not about running up the score; it's about playing football.
I am proud of the job that the boys did for Coach Castro. They were playing with Honor. They were also playing with heavy hearts. I would love to see the A$$hole letsciencedecide try to lose someone as important as Dave was to us his family and to his team then get out there and play ball. I bet you never even stepped on a football field in your life and you are simply trying to live through your son who is on a team that is just not at the level as Palo.
Coach Castro was an amazing man and coach! I was honored to know him. I find it quite disgusting when people can not be repectful and show class. Im proud of how his team showed there repect to man who cared so much for football and his team!
Thank You snowstars723. Coach Castro was an amazing man and coach. He was also a very loving father and family man. We all miss him very much and loved him more than anyone could ever know. Thank you for your kind words. I guess that when people post mean and cruel statements about Coach they do not realize that his family reads these articles and the post. So when we talk about class we know who really does not have it and that would be the people who speak before thinking of who they hurt. Palo has class as well as Daves family.
Palomom45 you are welcome! I have to agree with you that I can't believe that people do not think before they write comments that family would read!