Sunrise Mountain High School players pose for a photo during the Las Vegas Sun High School Football Media Day at Red Rock Resort Thursday, July 20, 2023.
Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023 | 3:23 p.m.
Sunrise Mountain High football coach Chris Sawyers on Monday night was attempting to leave a Southern Nevada Football Coaches Association meeting at Allegiant Stadium.
The Raiders had other plans.
During the meeting, team officials were busy working behind the scenes preparing to give Sawyers a surprise. They bused his players from east Las Vegas to the stadium and had them wait in the Raiders locker room.
Once the meeting ended, they asked Sawyers if he could go into the locker room for an interview about the relationship between the franchise and the prep football community. When Sawyers entered the locker room, he was surprised to see his team waiting.
Then, the television monitors flipped on.
It was Raiders coach Josh McDaniels delivering some unexpected news: Sawyers is the franchise’s Tom Flores Coach of the Year. Once the news was delivered, the players swarmed their coach to celebrate, jumping up and down in a scene that left the coach with a gigantic grin on his face.
“I have to give the kids credit,” Sawyers said today. “They did a good job of keeping it a secret.”
Sunrise Mountain is the feel-good story of the high school season, earning the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A playoffs with an undefeated record in league games. Last year, the Miners had a 4-6 record.
The Raiders gave $2,000 to the Sunrise Mountain program as part of the award. Sawyers got a custom football.
He’s hoping for more — a state championship.
“That is why we have success. It’s the brotherhood,” he said of the players’ reaction.
