Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Fake field goal sets up Green Valley win

Green Valley-Centennial

Justin M. Bowen

Centennial quarterback Chris Henderson runs into the Green Valley defensive line Friday night as Centennial took on Green Valley at Centennial High School. Green Valley edged out a win 10-7.

Week 1: Green Valley vs Centennial

Thanks to a trick play and a stingy defense, Green Valley beat Centennial 10-7 to open the high school football season.

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UPDATED 10:55 p.m.

Green Valley beat Centennial 10-7 tonight.

The biggest play of the game came with seven minutes left when Green Valley kicker Nolan Kohorst completed a 19-yard pass to Joel Blankmeyer on a fake field goal.

The play took Green Valley to the 9 yard line and set up the winning field goal from 18 yards out with 5 minutes to play.

Green Valley recovered a fumble with 1:50 left to clinch the game.

-- Case Keefer

Other scores

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Basic High players celebrate keeping the ceremonial milk jug after defeating rivals Boulder City 26-0.

• Henderson’s Basic High beat Boulder City 26-0. Basic senior quarterback Tyler Dobbins scored on two long quarterback keepers of 34 and 54 yards. Junior running back Rayshawn Gulley put the game away with a 50-yard touchdown run in the final quarter.

• Bishop Gorman scored 34 unanswered points in the second half to break a halftime tie and beat Dixie High of St. George, Utah, 48-14 to kick off this year’s football season.

• Palo Verde beat Spring Valley 35-17, after jumping out to a 21-7 halftime lead. Palo Verde’s Tyrone Blake scored two touchdowns, one receiving and one rushing, in the rout.

• Arbor View, which expects to be competitive in the tough Northwest Division, opened with a 55-0 victory against Eldorado. The Aggies are looking for their first-ever playoff berth in the school’s four-year existence.

• Del Sol opened with a 35-12 victory against host Valley. Dezerick Reed had more than 200 yards rushing for the Dragons.

• Foothill junior Connor Afoa had a pair of touchdowns runs and the Falcons’ defense had a key goaline stand late in the fourth quarter to beat visiting Bonanza 14-6. Afoa had touchdown runs of 1 and 70 yards, and finished with more than 150 yards.

• Durango’s Julio Mora opened his 2009 campaign on the right foot, leading the Trailblazers to 53-19 victory over Rancho with over 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns. After a close first quarter, Durango grabbed the momentum and never looked back after linebacker Eric Wathogoma intercepted a pass and went the other way for a touchdown. Wathogoma’s touchdown helped propel the Trailblazers to a 37-6 halftime lead. “Overall, we played well,” head coach Gary Maki said. “We did most of our work on the ground and our defense didn’t let up.”

• Sunrise Mountain lost to Clark 62-0. It was the inaugural game for the Sunrise Mountain program, and the score showed it. Running out of the gates, both Keneal Riley and Andre Clay had big games on the ground for Clark. “Our backs all did a great job,” Chargers head coach Don Willis said.

• Las Vegas High defeated Douglas 48-21. Sophomore quarterback Hassan Henderson had a strong debut, throwing for 303 yards and five touchdowns. Henderson spread the ball out to six different receivers. Las Vegas coach Chris Faircloth said his team exceeded his expectations in the opener. “We had a lot of young kids that we were concerned about that were kind of struggling a little bit,” Faircloth said. “But they stepped up and we are very happy with the outcome.”

• Legacy opened its season with a 26-9 victory against Liberty. DeShae Edwards carried the ball 10 times for 75 yards and Devin Weidemann completed six of 16 passes for 133 yards. Weidemann also threw a long touchdown pass to Dionte Maxwell in the second quarter.

• Desert Pines quarterback Dalton Leilua completed seven of nine passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Jaguars to a 50-6 victory against Cheyenne. Leilua also added two rushing touchdowns. Senior receiver Eric Tuiloma caught both touchdown passes and also returned an interception for a score. “I’ll tell you what: The kids played real well,” Desert Pines coach Paul Bennett said. “It was a great way to start the season.”

-- Ray Brewer, Steve Silver, Anthony Fenech

Tonight's games brought to you by the UFL

With all of the hype and anticipation surrounding the opening night of high school football in Southern Nevada, several have forgotten why we are playing games tonight and not in the first week of September.

If not for a $25,000 donation by the upstart United Football League to the Clark County School District to cover fees associated with this first week of games, the season would have been trimmed from 10 games to nine — a cutback for all sports as part of reductions by the district in the state’s rough economic climate.

But the UFL realized high school football is an event that helps brings communities closer and deserves credit for stepping up. The Las Vegas Locomotives are one of four teams in the league and begin play Oct. 8 against San Francisco at Sam Boyd Stadium.

I can speak for everyone — especially the children from the 20 teams who are playing this week — in expressing my appreciation.

Check back later this evening for scoring updates, stories, photos and videos.

-- Ray Brewer

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