The Liberty Patriots head onto the field for a football game against the Arbor View Aggies at Liberty High School in Henderson Friday, Oct. 4, 2022.
Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 | 2 a.m.
The high school football season is down to two weeks.
This week’s slate of games includes the state semifinals in the class 3A and 4A, as defending 3A champion Moapa Valley travels to the Northern Nevada-California border to face Truckee. In the 4A, the same semifinal matchups as last season are on tap, as Las Vegas plays Shadow Ridge and Coronado takes on Silverado.
The contest of the week is the Southern Regional championship in the class 5A between defending state champion Bishop Gorman and Liberty. If anyone is going to beat Gorman, it’s Liberty — and that’s a longshot.
The picks column went 7-1 last week and stands at 163-24 on the season. Here are this week’s projections.
Bishop Gorman at Liberty
The narrative in the Bishop Gorman-Liberty showdown is unchanged: Liberty is led by college-caliber players in many spots and has the best chance of any team in Las Vegas to beat Gorman. They did it in 2019, so why not again in 2022? I’m trying to find reasons to support that argument as nobody wants to see a lopsided contest between the top programs in Nevada. Unfortunately, those reasons aren’t coming into focus this season, especially after Liberty only mustered 10 points in the first half last week against an Arbor View squad Gorman defeated 63-0. Gorman went six weeks before being scored on by a local opponent, a field goal last week by Desert Pines. Gorman rolls to the regional title. Gorman 51, Liberty 7
Coronado at Silverado
Coronado has been the only program over the past two seasons to give Silverado a challenge — a 32-14 Silverado victory in the regular season last year. But that doesn’t mean an upset is on the horizon in the class 4A state semifinals. Silverado beat Coronado 43-0 on Sept. 16 and has only surrendered 23 points in 10 games. This is Silverado’s state championship to win. Silverado 43, Coronado 7
Las Vegas at Shadow Ridge
Shadow Ridge has a significant edge in the trenches. The Mustangs will have no problem gaining pick yardage in the ground game on the way to an easy win. Shadow Ridge 36, Las Vegas 13
Spring Creek at Slam Charter
Spring Creek is not a state-championship caliber team, as witnessed by its 38-0 loss on Oct. 22 to Elko. More important, Spring Creek lacks the speed to contain the athletes in the Slam offense, such as running back Daniel Nevil. It’s time to give Slam coach Mike Cofer and the kids in his program the credit the deserve. In four years, they’ve gone from launching their program to the verge of winning a state title. Well done. Slam 39, Spring Valley 17
Moapa Valley at Truckee
All seems right in the world when Moapa Valley and Truckee play on a Saturday in November. Unfortunately for Moapa Valley, this year’s game is in Truckee, where it recently snowed and where the high temperature for Saturday is 42 degrees. If this game was played in Overton, defending state champion Moapa Valley would be the team to beat. But it’s not. Truckee 20, Moapa Valley 15
