With three weeks left in the regular season, high school football teams are preparing to make a playoff run and compete for a state championship.
Football
The Green Valley-Foothill game, a matchup of two longtime Henderson rivals, highlights the Week 8 Southern Nevada high school football schedule.
Saturday marked the first day high school football teams in the state could engage in contact practices with full pads.
Bishop Gorman and Liberty will face off again in the Class 5A Southern Region final Friday. Both teams had tougher-than-usual battles in their semifinal games.
Bishop Gorman (5A), Silverado (4A) and Moapa Valley (3A) remain No. 1 in the Southern Nevada football rankings. The Palo Verde boys and Coronado girls top the soccer rankings.
Coronado’s offense wasn’t sharp after a bye week, but its defense stifled the Basic offense in a 13-0 win in the Class 4A state quarterfinals.
Liberty scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away from Arbor View and set up a showdown with Bishop Gorman.
Foothill’s Kendric Thomas ran for a 72-yard touchdown to end Gorman’s shutout streak at six games, but the rest of the night was all Gaels in a 63-6 win.
Shadow Ridge beat Durango 38-7 for its first playoff win in 15 years behind 138 yards and three touchdowns rushing from Jaquieze Holland.
Brayden Bayne helped Centennial to the 2019 Class 4A state championship game with 63 points as a kicker and a 36.5-yard average as a punter.
Arbor View’s Israel Mann and Rickey Jones, Legacy’s Lee Wilson and BJ Phillips, and Bishop Gorman’s Mark Person and James Petrie will play at Southwest Minnesota State.
Here are the preps athletes who signed for national signing day on Wednesday or during the fall.
Senior Jordan Smith has rushed for 1,711 yards and 24 touchdowns and eclipsed the 100-yard mark eight times in helping Centennial reach its first state championship game.
Riley Schwartz took over for the Crusaders, and he threw for two touchdowns and rushed for one Friday to help Faith Lutheran to a 35-0 win over Cimarron-Memorial.
The Aggies are using three running backs — Daniel Mitchell, Jaedyn Jackson and Justin Hausner — to replace the production they received from all-state back Kyle Graham last season.