Las Vegas High head coach Erick Capetillo walks back to the sidelines after a timeout during the annual Bone Game against Rancho at Rancho High School Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.
Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Nevada high school football finales
When Las Vegas High School football coach Erick Capetillo saw the proposal to realign divisions in Nevada, he initially thought someone was playing a joke.
His Wildcats, because they’ve reached the last two Class 4A state semifinals, are pegged to be elevated to large-school Class 5A — and in the same division as powerhouse Bishop Gorman.
Slated to move down: Faith Lutheran, a private school that plays a national schedule, has unlimited resources and a coach with decades of college experience. Also slated to move down: Centennial, which in 2019 played for the large-school state championship, has an enrollment of more than 3,000 students and is situated in an affluent part of Southern Nevada.
The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association Realignment Committee will meet today in Reno to determine divisions for all sports in the association for 2023-24 and 2024-25, using a mathematical formula based on results over the past two seasons as a starting point and saying they will adjust as needed.
We hope that’s the case, as the proposal that was released last week is flawed and does little to address the inequity that’s crippled high school sports as the activity emerges from the 2020 closures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The proposal calls for the football programs at Las Vegas, Basic Academy, Coronado, Shadow Ridge and Silverado to be elevated to Class 5A. It would demote Canyon Springs, Faith Lutheran, Legacy and Palo Verde.
It also calls for demoting Bonanza and Del Sol from the 4A to the Class 3A, but advancing Rancho up a classification to the 4A.
Here’s one way to view it: Bonanza and Del Sol got destroyed in the Class 4A over the past two years and need a chance to develop at the lower class. And Rancho, even though equally bad, it’s your turn to be on the wrong end of the lopsided results. Sorry, Rancho.
It’s the same logic in the 5A. Palo Verde, Canyon Springs and Legacy have been repeatedly crushed by Gorman, Liberty and Arbor View. Now, Las Vegas looks like it will have to take its licks.
Even those who are part of the committee are shocked. “This is what the NIAA wants. It’s already decided?,” said one member of the realignment committee, who asked that their name not be used. “I’m glad they are going into this open-minded.”
Using a points system to help align teams is severely broken. Why is it that Las Vegas High beating schools like Del Sol carries the same weight as Palo Verde losing to Bishop Gorman?
Moreover, using a points system doesn’t account for the human element.
Take Basic Academy, which two years ago posted a .500 football record in the Class 4A, is housed in one of the oldest buildings in the Clark County School District, which means it is lacking many of the modern amenities that other football programs take for granted. Being stuck in 5A would likely hinder participation over an extended period and could sound the football program’s death knell.
And there is Las Vegas, which only has 110 kids in the program, is situated in a part of the northeast valley where resources are thin and surrendered 72 points in losing in the state semifinals.
Las Vegas had one game against a 5A opponent this year, losing 55-14 to Bishop Manogue of Reno. Bishop Manogue lost 70-6 to Gorman in the state title game, reaffirming the desire of all of the 5A schools in Northern Nevada to ask the committee to keep them in the Class 4A.
Realignment shouldn’t only be about avoiding Gorman football, because if the Gaels weren’t beating everyone Liberty would be. Rather, it needs to be about doing what’s best for all students, as athletic teams are a continuation of the learning in the classroom and an important avenue to strengthen the high school experience.
Officials can’t keep realigning every two years, because all they are doing is offering up another slate of teams to be beaten by schools in a better circumstance — whether that’s Gorman and Liberty in football; Centennial in girls basketball; Basic or Gorman in baseball.
Nevada would be better suited using an open division format, where teams could play whoever they wanted in the regular season. It’s how California approaches its scheduling.
Let my beloved Chaparral Cowboys schedule Valley, Western, Eldorado, Rancho, Bonanza, Del Sol, Sunrise Mountain and other schools facing similar circumstances of limited resources and a lack of participation.
And for more competitive programs, say like Arbor View, coordinate games with Liberty, Desert Pines, Gorman and whoever from out of state agrees to play. This way, Gorman isn’t playing Las Vegas — please, let’s not make this a league game — or two-time defending 4A champion Silverado isn’t going through the motions against Sunrise Mountain.
This does nothing to advance a memorable experience for either side, as the mercy rule of the running clock starts in the first quarter and both teams hustle to shuttle players in and out of the lineup. Some weeks, teams are running 25 or fewer plays.
At the end of the regular season, get a committee together to formulate a playoff bracket that makes the most sense. This past season, for instance, Silverado surrendered 23 points in the regular season and could have competed in the Class 5A with Arbor View and Liberty.
Green Valley, Faith Lutheran and Palo Verde had no right to make the 5A postseason, as was witnessed by defeats by the mercy rule in the opening playoff round. Palo Verde nearly lost to Class 3A Slam Charter in the regular season, an outcome the committee could have used to either keep the Panthers out of the postseason or put them in a lower playoff bracket.
It’s impossible for any committee to get a proposal 100% correct because of the many factors to consider — enrollment, quality of coaching, economic resources and more — for the many high schools statewide. This, after all, isn’t the 1990s when Las Vegas had about 15 high schools and all were competitive.
This problem can’t be solved by entering numbers into a calculator and living with the results for another two years. If that’s the case, we’ll have two more years of 70-6 results — just a different team celebrating that they scored six.
Here’s urging the members of the committee to take a stand and be a voice of reason. You have a chance to make a difference.
