Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Kickoff 2015:

Friday night roundup: Desert Pines downs Arbor View 50-14 in Week 1 showdown

Other games of note include: Palo Verde at Coronado, Centennial-Legacy and Green Valley hosting Charter Oak (Calif.)

Palo vs Coronado

Mikayla Whitmore

Coronado fans cheer during a high school football game vs. Palo Verde on Friday, Aug. 28, 2015.

Updated Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015 | 1:26 a.m.

Palo Verde Defeats Coronado

Coronado's Jordan Patterson (34) carries the ball as Palo Verde's Aaron Belshe (10) attempts a tackle during a game at Coronado Friday, Aug. 28, 2015. Launch slideshow »

Desert Pines High football players Sam Poutasi and Anthony Smith pleaded with coach Tico Rodriguez this offseason to request Clark County School District schedule makers to place the Jaguars in a showcase game during the preseason.

Desert Pines, the favorites to win the Division I-A state championship, are loaded with college recruits and confident they can beat anyone in Nevada, regardless of classification.

The schedule makers listened to the request, giving Desert Pines a home game tonight against large-school classification powerhouse Arbor View to open the season. It’s a battle of teams in the top 5 of the Sun’s preseason rankings.

There’s just one problem for Desert Pines — both Anthony Smith and Poutasi, recruits with scholarship offers from the Pac-12 Conference, are out with injuries. Smith tore his ACL in a scrimmage last week and out is for the season. Poutasi will return midway through the season, also sitting because of a knee injury.

Just don’t expect Desert Pines to not put up a fight. They still have a roster of experienced players — five made the preseason all-city team — and are confident they’ll compete with Arbor View.

Desert Pines, after all, is familiar with handling adversity.

It squandered a three-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter of the state championship game last November in losing to Moapa Valley. But instead of dwelling on the disappointment, coaches have used it as a rallying cry.

They return several key contributors from that team, including the junior combination of quarterback Marckell Grayson and running back Isaiah Morris. They accounted for more than 4,000 yards of offense last season and speed that may be too much for Arbor View to contain.

Arbor View was undefeated last season until losing to Bishop Gorman in the Sunset Regional championship game.

The Aggies are led by bluechip college recruit Keenen King on the offensive line and should be stronger than Desert Pines in the trenches. The Arbor View misdirection rushing attack might be too much for Desert Pines to contain, especially when its running backs have space to maneuver.

It’s not the lone game of interest in the opening week.

Palo Verde opens at Coronado in the first game of the Joe Aznarez coaching era. Aznarez replaced Darwin Rost, who retired after 19 season and as the lone coach in school history. Other games of note include: Green Valley hosting Charter Oak of California and Centennial taking on Legacy in a game of Division I schools expecting strong seasons.

We’ll keep you posted all night. Send game updates and photos on Twitter using #702hsfb and #sunstandout.

• • •

Stories from games across the valley:

Clark’s Dixon racks up 246 yards in win over Boulder City

Despite dropping close game to extend streak, Rancho shows it’s a different team

Sunrise Mountain pummels Western 54-6 in season opener

Tyshun McClinton runs Desert Oasis past Durango

Mojave shuts out Chaparral for season-opening win

Silverado grabs victory in Randall Cunningham’s coaching debut

Faith Lutheran drops opener to Yuma Catholic, 48-34

RJ Hubert reels off five touchdowns in Moapa Valley’s win over Sierra Vista

Centennial escapes Legacy with blocked extra point in final minute

Foothill off to rough start in loss at Utah school

Question marks loom for Green Valley after defeat

Spring Valley edges rival Bonanza in Banner Game

Desert Pines crushes Arbor View in showcase game, dedicates win to injured players

Virgin Valley self-destructs early at Cedar City

Pahrump Valley blanks Del Sol in opener

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy