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Faith Lutheran High quarterback Joe Portaro will walk-on with the UNLV football team. He passed for 2,871 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2010.
Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010 | 10:24 p.m.
Legacy vs. Faith Lutheran
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Faith Lutheran's Joe Portaro completed 33 of 57 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns Saturday in a 37-23 victory against visiting Legacy in the Northwest Division opener for both schools.
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The tough Southeast Division
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Las Vegas Sun reporters Case Keefer and Ray Brewer break down high school football's tough Southeast Division. Five of the league's seven teams are part of the Sun's top-10 rankings.
The Faith Lutheran High football team has arguably the top passing attack in Southern Nevada.
Led by quarterback Joe Portaro, wide receiver Don Pearson and tight end Brett Lubbe, a trio of Division I prospects, the Crusaders have used their successes passing the ball to start the season with two victories.
Portaro completed 33 of 57 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns Saturday in a 37-23 victory against visiting Legacy in the Northwest Division opener for both schools.
Legacy, the defending Northwest champions, only returns one starter from last year’s squad. But the Longhorns still have a deep and talented roster, making the victory that much sweeter for Faith Lutheran.
For a Faith Lutheran squad only in its second year competing in the large-school classification, the victory is was more than a nice way to open league play. It was a confidence builder.
“That just boosted our confidence from zero to 10,” said Portaro, who also rushed for a pair of 1-yard touchdowns and kicked a 39-yard field goal.
Faith Lutheran coach Jake Kothe is making sure his team doesn’t get too confident. After all, he argues, they only have two league wins in two years and still have several games to win before they can be mentioned amongst the league’s elite.
And they are far from a finished product. They gave up two long scoring runs, had a field goal blocked and committed a handful of other errors in nearly blowing a double-digit lead.
“We talk to the kids all the time about staying the course when things don’t go as planned,” Kothe said.
Faith Lutheran, which battled injuries in finishing 1-8 last year in its initial season in the 4A classification, still resembles a team that competes on a lower level. Several athletes play on both sides of the ball and the team’s players are undersized at several position.
But when it comes to pitching and catching the ball, nobody can equal their success.
And it’s not only the threesome of Portaro, Pearson (seven catches for 112 yards) and Lubbe (eight catches for 60 yards).
Devin Dolby had five catches for 45 yards and two touchdowns, including a 5-yard scoring reception with 6:34 to play in the third quarter in extending the Faith Lutheran lead to 30-16.
“We like to pick and choose (which defensive backs) we go up against,” Portaro said. “We scout the film to find who is the weakest link.”
Legacy (0-2) played without junior LJ McMorris, one of the top running backs in the Las Vegas Valley. He is nursing an ankle injury.
But that didn’t alter the Longhorns’ offensive philosophy of running the football.
D'Andre Hughes scored on an 80-yard touchdown run seconds before halftime to even the score at 16-all. Jordan Ireland rushed for 92 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries and also scored on an 84-yard punt return for a touchdown.
“We just have to play our type of football and pound the ball at people,” Legacy coach Dave Snyder Jr. said.
Ireland’s punt return cut the Legacy deficit to 30-23 with three minutes to play in the third quarter.
But with Portaro under center, the Crusaders were in control late. His 1-yard scoring run with 6:31 remaining sealed the victory and put his team somewhere is has never been before — in first place of the Northwest, a league some consider the toughest in town.
“We feel good about our passing game. The kids believe in it,” Kothe said.
dang Ray, looks like you were right ranking Faith Lutheran in top 10 was a good call. Solid performance. Too bad Las Vegas got smoked in the air by that QB in Utah.
Thanks brother :)
Did somebody on this thread, compare Faith Lutheran to Bishop Gorman?
Faith Lutheran has a 23 man roster that includes 2 freshman, and only 4 lineman over 200lbs. Plus, they only have 3 wins in the last 2 seasons.
Faith Lutheran has a very good team, with intelligent, and disciplined athletes. But come on..no team in that division has shown they can stop Palo Verde, and certainly no team in the state is comparable to Gorman.
Congratulations to Faith Lutheran. What a fantastic way to start a new season.
RunninReb: You must have forgot...Legacy is the defending champs of the NW division NOT Palo. Discpline and not so much size can go a long way in the NW as we now see. Shadow Ridge hasn't been tested yet but they're 2-0, have only allowed 6 pts in two wins,and face Legacy Thurs. I can't wait to see Shadow & Faith last game of the season on Thursday Night Lights!
Faith has enough heart, soul and talent to make it to state. When have you ever seen a Vegas boy throw like that Portaro Kid. And how about Pearson, Lubbe and now they added a few more threats. I hope they prove you all wrong like they proved Ray and a few others wrong Saturday night, who said Legacy by 6. Way to show up Faith, keep it going for Zan.
papaG: You're absolutely correct, the Longhorns are the defending NW champs.
But,with the exception of that 1 loss that ended up being a 7-6 game with a lot of questionable calls...Palo Verde hasn't lost to ANYBODY in the regular season since 2008. And after that loss to Legacy, they beat the heck of the rest of their opponents, including Faith Lutheran. (76 points worth!!)
With out a single doubt, Faith Lutheran is very good this season, and I agree that the Shadow Ridge game will be very interesting, but I actually think the most interesting game of their season will be on October 22ND at home.
Just wanted to say thanks To Ray Brewer for showing interest in Faith Football, and also to all of you you have had positive comments. There are other message boards in town and I think some of the adults forget these are 15-17 year olds kids they are verbally beating up. We dont know where we will end up this season, but I do know one thing, nobody has more heart than our kids, and they will never never quit
Heres a to a great remainder of the season for all teams!!!
the longhorns are very young..so everybody who is saying they fell off contension is utterly wrong.there still a tough team to face..just having growing pains..faith is by far the most experienced team iN THE NW division...so i saw that coming...legacy will still manage playoffs though..but congrats to faith..
runninreb- Questionable calls? I Don't mean to bring up a point that has nothing to do with this article, but I'm amazed at the choice of words. "Questionable calls"? Explain to me just what was so questionable about the Palo Legacy game last year? Or is it that since Palo is such a beloved team, the only time they lose is to questionable calls? With you saying that, that takes away any credit that those Legacy kids deserve. And I can promise you, they deserve all the credit for beating Palo.