Nevada high school football: NIAA points rankings released on Monday

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association website will likely get record traffic Monday.

That’s because the NIAA will release its first HMR points rankings of the year for Class 5A and 4A Southern Nevada teams.

The points rating system will determine which Southern teams make the 5A and 4A Southern Region playoffs, with the top four 5A Southern Region teams in the rankings qualifying for the new Open Division playoffs.

It’s a never-before-seen system in Nevada where the regular-season standings will not determine the playoffs. The NIAA will use a combination of Harbin Points, the MaxPreps rankings and the NIAA rubric points to rank teams.

Once the top four 5A Southern Region teams are selected for the Open Division playoff — a four-team state tournament featuring only Southern teams — the next eight highest-rated teams advance to the 5A Southern Region playoffs. Meanwhile, the top eight 4A teams will compete in the 4A Southern Region playoffs.

It’s likely that Bishop Gorman, Liberty and Arbor View will take up the top three spots in the first rankings.

“Our goal is to get in that Open (Division) playoff and we know that in order to do that, we hold the destiny in our own hands,” Liberty coach Rich Muraco said. “If we win out, we’re going to be one of those final four teams.”

Liberty (5-1) opened up 5A Lake League play with a 50-30 win over Foothill. The Patriots have racked up nonleague wins against Kailua (Hawaii), Casteel (Arizona) and Farrington (Hawaii). Their only loss is to Skyridge, a top-five team in Utah.

“We’ve always scheduled really tough out-of-state teams,” Muraco said. “This year, we took a little lesser difficulty in schedule. We didn’t quite schedule the perennial top 30 or 40 teams in the country. We just scheduled quality opponents. We want to be in the Open (Division). Some schools might want to be the fifth seed, but we really want to be in the Open.”

Who’s No. 4?

Bishop Gorman, Liberty and Arbor View are the top three teams in MaxPreps’ Nevada rankings, respectively.

Arbor View played another tough nonleague schedule with a loss against Mililani, a top-three team in Hawaii, a forfeited win over Nebraska’s top team, Millard South, and a top-10 California team in Lincoln.

The Aggies (4-2) opened 5A Mountain League play with a 49-14 win over Canyon Springs. Utah commit Thaddeus Thatcher threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score, and Sacramento State commit Jayden Williams had two touchdown catches.

The question will be: Who is ranked No. 4? That could go to Shadow Ridge (5-1, 1-0 5A Desert League).

On Friday, the Mustangs won at Citrus Valley (California) 41-20, behind Trevin Young’s 196 rushing yards and four touchdowns. They also have beaten California teams Simi Valley and Quartz Hill.

Shadow Ridge is No. 6 in MaxPreps rankings as the next-highest-ranked Southern Nevada team behind Reno schools Spanish Springs and Bishop Manogue.

“It’ll be interesting to see where teams fall in based on strength of schedule and all these metrics that are mixed in there,” Muraco said. “It’ll be interesting to see if losing to an out-of-state team maybe boosted your rankings versus playing a local team and getting a win.”

Friday football highlights

* Still perfect: Las Vegas High is still the last undefeated team in Class 5A. The Wildcats (6-0, 1-0 5A Mountain League) opened league play with a 35-26 win over Green Valley (2-3, 0-1).

Tanner Vibabul threw three touchdown passes, all to Dasean Deayon, and rushed for a score. The Wildcats will likely be close to the top five in the NIAA’s rankings.

* Diamondbacks deliver: Another team that will have a high ranking is Desert Oasis, which is emerging as a serious contender for a 5A state title.

The Diamondbacks (4-2, 2-0 5A Lake League) outlasted Faith Lutheran 30-27 behind four touchdown passes from Vincent Hales, with two going to Anthony Sarracino. Hales completed 16 of 20 passes for 247 yards and Sarracino had four catches for 114 yards.

Desert Oasis has a bye before playing at Liberty on Oct. 10.

* Last 4A test: Sloan Canyon (6-0, 3-0 4A Lake League) has rolled through its 4A opponents, as evident by a 34-0 win over Spring Valley on Friday. Cade Hoshino threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns, two to Christian Rhodes and two to Brandon Quaglio.

Sloan Canyon plays Sierra Vista (4-2, 2-0) at 6 p.m. Friday and the Mountain Lions pose the last threat to the Pirates in the Lake League, and the whole 4A classification.

Sierra Vista on Friday shut out Del Sol 36-0. Mafua Matthews-Mafua had 12 tackles and a pick-six, and Demarcus Robinson had 101 receiving yards and a touchdown.

* 3A statement: The 3A Southern League title will come down to the “Hammer Game” between Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley on Oct. 24.

Virgin Valley (3-3, 1-0) opened league play Friday with a 46-26 road win at Pahrump Valley (3-2, 0-1), which seemed to have closed the gap between the Bulldogs and Moapa Valley (3-3, 1-0) in 3A. Pahrump Valley plays at Moapa Valley on Oct. 10.

Up next

Shadow Ridge and Centennial (3-2, 0-1 5A Desert League) at 6 p.m. Friday at Shadow Ridge is the top game next Friday.

A Shadow Ridge win could put the Mustangs in the driver’s seat for the Open Division, while a Centennial win could move up the Bulldogs after the first rankings.

Another 5A game with playoff implications is a Mountain League contest when Green Valley hosts Desert Pines at 6 p.m. Friday The Jaguars (3-2, 1-0) defeated Legacy 51-16, while Green Valley will look to bounce back after losing to Las Vegas.

Liberty continues league play by hosting Faith Lutheran (1-5, 0-1 5A Lake League) at 7 p.m. Friday.

In rivalry games, Arbor View hosts Legacy (1-5, 0-1 5A Mountain League) at 6 p.m. in the “Battle of the Bulls,” and Foothill (4-2, 0-1 5A Lake League) plays at Basic (2-4, 0-1 5A Lake League) in the “Battle of Boulder Highway.” Foothill is looking to bounce back after its loss to Liberty, while Basic fell to Coronado 49-32.

Bishop Gorman, after finishing its nonleague schedule at Santa Margarita (California) late Saturday, returns home to play Southern Nevada teams the rest of the season. The Gaels resume 5A Desert League play hosting Palo Verde (3-3, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday.

* Note: There are no high school sports for CCSD schools and most private and charter schools on Wednesday and Thursday due to the Yom Kippur holiday. All junior varsity and freshman football games will be played Saturday.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.