Palo Verde next in parade of ranked Centennial foes

Bishop Gorman's football team opened the season against two nationally ranked opponents, but no other area team can match the difficulty of Centennial's early-season schedule.

It only gets tougher tonight.

The ninth-ranked Bulldogs (0-2, 0-1 Northwest League) opened with a 24-21 loss to fourth-ranked Las Vegas and followed that with a 20-13 loss to No. 3 Arbor View. Tonight they visit No. 2 Palo Verde (3-0, 2-0).

"They said Gorman has the toughest (schedule) on the West Coast," Centennial coach Leon Evans said. "I said we have the toughest in Nevada, hands down."

Senior running back Jacobi Owens said: "(The tough schedule) is really just showing us where we're at, where we need to get better."

Palo Verde offers a stiff test for the Bulldogs. The Panthers advanced to last season's Sunset Region final and already have a Northwest League victory over Arbor View.

Centennial is conceding nothing.

"Personally, I'm stoked. I can't wait," senior defensive end/offensive guard Jerod Cody said. "It's Palo, a big name. Everybody just keeps talking about them, saying they're going to go undefeated, but I want to be the team that ends that streak."

To do that, the Bulldogs must show they've learned from their two losses.

"As a team, the biggest learning thing was finishing a game out -- and also just developing a killer instinct," Owens said.

Owens has been the Bulldogs' go-to player on offense, but he'll need help against Palo Verde. He has rushed for 390 yards and three touchdowns on 55 carries. He ran 40 times against Las Vegas.

"I didn't realize he had that many carries until I got the stat sheet," Evans said. "You can't run a kid that many times in a ballgame. But he did it, and I'm proud of Jacobi. He didn't bat an eye, just continued to carry the football and gave it all he had and almost broke one there late to win that thing for us."

The Bulldogs have the advantage of facing a similar offensive scheme for a second consecutive week. Like Arbor View, Palo Verde runs the double wing.

"Two teams with the double wing back-to-back just prepares us even more," Cody said. "We're studying on what our mistakes were and hopefully correct them for Palo."

Scoring against the Panthers might prove tougher than stopping them. Palo Verde has allowed only seven points.

"We need to go out and just play four quarters of football and whatever happens, happens," Evans said. "As long as we play hard, we'll be fine. There's a lot of season left."

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587.