Saturday, November 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
CORRECTION (11/25/03): A caption in SaturdayÕs Review-Journal misidentified the player making a tackle in the Las Vegas-Desert Pines High School football game. Xavier Cleveland of Las Vegas High School made the tackle.
Injury mars rout by Wildcats
Defensive back Gomez
listed as critical after
38-14 win over Jaguars
By DAMON SEITERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Las Vegas running back Jacob Robertson (19) breaks through a hole in the first quarter, helped by teammates Cory Holm (58) and Greg Hansborough (3).
Photo by Ralph Fountain.
Jonathan Stoldorf (83) of Desert Pines is tackled by Las Vegas' Xavier Cleveland (52) after a pass reception in the first quarter Friday night.
Photo by Ralph Fountain.
Stanley Copeland of Las Vegas runs for a first down on a pass reception in the third quarter.
Photo by Ralph Fountain.
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It should have been a moment of celebration for Las Vegas High's football team on Friday night.
The Wildcats had just defeated visiting Desert Pines 38-14 to capture the Sunrise Regional title. But the cheers and celebrating were quickly replaced by near silence as the Wildcats worried about teammate Edward Gomez, who suffered an upper-body injury late in the game.
Gomez collapsed on the sideline after the game. Paramedics arrived quickly and tended to Gomez for several minutes before he was taken by ambulance to University Medical Center trauma center.
A nursing supervisor at UMC said Gomez was listed in critical condition after midnight Friday but would not talk about the extent of the injuries.
Players wept as the team said a prayer for Gomez after the ambulance pulled away.
"This is a tight group," Las Vegas coach Kris Cinkovich said. "This one hurts."
Gomez, a senior defensive back, was apparently injured on a fourth-and-10 play midway through the fourth quarter.
Desert Pines quarterback Josh Webster tried to complete a pass to receiver Jonathan Stoldorf over the middle. The ball was just out of Stoldorf's reach, and Gomez hit the receiver as the ball went off his fingertips, giving Las Vegas the ball back with 5:28 to play. It was the last time Gomez was on the field.
"He was in that collision on that fourth-down pass," Cinkovich said. "I don't like to assume, but I'm going to assume that's what it was.
"He just came off the field and kind of collapsed."
Both Las Vegas and Desert Pines advance to the Class 4A state semifinals next Saturday. Las Vegas will host the winner of today's Sunset title game between Cheyenne and Palo Verde. Desert Pines will play at Reno (7-5), which upset previously undefeated Douglas 34-14 on Friday. Both semifinals are scheduled for 1 p.m.
Las Vegas (12-0) dominated the game from the start. The Wildcats were making their fourth consecutive appearance in the Sunrise finals, but the team had fallen behind in each of the first three games.
That didn't happen Friday, as the Wildcats scored 17 first-quarter points, and led 24-0 in the second quarter.
The Wildcats took advantage of a short field on each of their first three possessions. Senior Kioni Viernes blocked a Desert Pines punt, giving Las Vegas the ball at the Jaguars 36-yard line on its first possession.
Five plays later, Jacob Robertson scored on a 17-yard run, and Stanley Copeland added the extra point to make it 7-0.
A 16-yard punt gave the Wildcats the ball on the Desert Pines 40 on their next possession. The short field set up a 36-yard field goal by Copeland to make it 10-0 with 3:52 left in the quarter.
The Jaguars (8-4) again failed to move the ball, and Las Vegas had the ball at the Desert Pines 42 after a 26-yard punt. On the first play, Jeremy Craddock hit Christian Vidal, who was wide open in the end zone, and Copeland's extra point made it 17-0.
Craddock added a 3-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter to make it 24-0.
The Wildcats got a 3-yard touchdown run from Robertson in the third quarter, and a 15-yard scoring run by Jamal Lomax in the fourth quarter.
Both of Desert Pines' scores came on long pass plays. Josh Webster connected with Mike Washington on a 58-yard TD pass just before halftime, and Webster hooked up with Stoldorf on a 67-yard TD pass on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Robertson finished with 146 yards on 28 carries to lead Las Vegas, and Lomax added 101 yards on 12 carries.
Webster passed for 157 yards, but completed just 6 of 23 passes, and was intercepted twice.
