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Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011 | 12:52 a.m.
Prep Sports Now
Big games in Henderson this week
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Las Vegas Sun sports reporters Ray Brewer and Case Keefer are back for another high school football discussion. They look at all the matchups this week and spend extra time on the Southeast, which begins league play this week.
Related coverage
Team Pages
The Chaparral HIgh football team picked the right time to win its first game of the season.
The Cowboys (1-2 overall, 1-0 Northeast) opened Northeast Division play Friday with a 20-14 victory against host Sunrise Mountain. Chaparral entered with just one win in the last two years — a victory against Sunrise Mountain last year.
And while Chaparral, which is going through an extreme makeover under first-year coach Bill Froman, has struggled at times in the transition, it can now say it's a first-place team. Well, at least for a few days.
Technically, Chaparral is tied with perennial power Las Vegas High, respected Canyon Springs and Valley for first place.
“It’s been a rough six months for the kids, but they have put in a lot of hard work,” Froman said. “They deserve this win, and they deserve to enjoy it.”
Chaparral trailed 14-0 after three quarters before closing the game with 20 unanswered points. Antonio Thomas rushed for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns.
Chaparral lost its first two games by a combined score of 96-20 but wouldn’t be denied late against Sunrise Mountain.
“They had that fight in them in the fourth quarter,” Froman said.
As for first place, Froman remains realistic in his team’s outlook the rest of the way. He realizes an inexperienced team will face challenges the rest of the way.
“It would be silly to answer that,” Froman jokingly said about first place. “Ask me that question in six weeks.”
Chaparral High School has seen better days.
Once among the top performing schools in the Clark County School District, Chaparral High is undergoing changes to counter dismal test scores and the lowest graduation rate in the district.
The campus located near East Flamingo Road and U.S. 95 is one of five turnaround schools not meeting the expectations outlined in No Child Left Behind.
Chaparral is now looking to clean up its reputation, touching every aspect of the school from restrooms to test scores.
Changes weren’t received well by students who openly protested the cuts to faculty and the new order that banned the use of cell phones and music players during the school day.
Under stricter rules, tardy students are locked out of classrooms, bathroom breaks during class time aren’t allowed and the lunch hour was pushed back to 1:40 p.m.
Superintendent Dwight Jones told students he’s not settling for half successes.
“Right now, 50 percent of the kids in this school don’t graduate high school. Is that acceptable to you? Think about that. Right now, some of the friends that you’re with aren’t going to graduate. Is that OK? That’s unacceptable to me. I think you guys ought to kick all of us out.”
- Year built:
- 1971
- Mascot:
- Cowboys
- Principal (Year Hired):
- David Wilson (2011)
- Enrollment:
- Approximately 2,250
- School Report Card:
- 2010-2011
Compiled by Gregan Wingert
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