Palo Verde prepares for final showdown

By Christopher Drexel

Published Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008 | 2:12 a.m.

Updated Friday, Dec. 5, 2008 | 6:44 p.m.

There is only one more opponent left for the Palo Verde football team to conquer.

After a 10-game regular season and four-game playoff run that saw them handily defeat all comers, the Panthers will face arguably their toughest challenge when they play Reno's McQueen High in the large-school championship Saturday at UNR's Mackey Stadium.

"We put ourselves in this place, and we're going to finish off the season strong," said Palo Verde linebacker Liloa Nobriga.

The road to the title game has been littered with fallen opponents that were supposed to give Palo Verde competition.

The latest was Sunrise Region champion Las Vegas High, which the Panthers beat 42-21 in the state semifinal Nov. 29. Before that, Palo Verde defeated defending state champion Bishop Gorman 50-14. Neither Las Vegas or Gorman had previously lost to a Nevada opponent.

Along the way, Palo Verde has crushed other state contenders such as Northwest No. 2 seed Cheyenne 25-0 on Sept. 19 and Sunrise Region finalist Del Sol 34-6 on Sept. 12.

"No one could ever say we ran and hid from anybody — my hat's off to our kids for taking this season one game at a time," said Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost, who last took the Panthers to a state title game in 2004, defeating Las Vegas for the school's only championship in football.

Palo Verde has played in the state semifinals the last seven seasons.

With a stable of running backs including Chaz Thomas (1,725 yards, 16 touchdowns), Tyrone Blake (847, 10 touchdowns), Sidney Hodge (813 yards, eight touchdowns) and Torin Harris (561 yards, 10 touchdowns) that are all expected to play at the college level, Rost thinks this may be his finest team.

"To be honest with you, it's been a really long four years, and I'm definitely glad to be back playing for state," Rost said. "Our '04 team had some kids that could get after it, but our team speed this year is better. This team seems like they're on a mission. They're real tight, and they've been a really fun group to coach."

If anyone can beat Palo Verde, it's McQueen.

The Lancers, who lost to Gorman in last year's title game, have barely been challenged this Fall, going 13-0.

McQueen has defeated Northern Nevada opponents by an average of 40 points a game. Sprague High from Salem, Ore., and Serra High from San Matteo, Calif., both gave McQueen its closest games, each losing by 17 points.

The Lancers have weapons at running back in Tyler York (1,130 rushing yards, 19 touchdowns) and Anthony Martinez (641 yards, nine touchdowns). Wide receiver Kyle Van Noy (460 receiving yard, nine touchdowns) is also a threat.

But McQueen's trademark is its linemen, which possess rare size. Darin Gooch (245 pounds) and Karrington Armstrong (303 pounds) are starting both ways for the second year in a row.

"Looks like they have a lot of big boys, but speed kills, and we have a lot of that," Hodge said. "It's going to be a dog fight. Everybody is pumped. Everybody is excited. Everybody is ready."

The Panthers insist traveling to play in McQueen's backyard won't be a factor.

Palo Verde will depart campus via bus at 3 a.m. Friday with plans to arrive at its Sparks hotel by 1 p.m. The Panthers will practice on Mackay Stadium's artificial turf field at 2:45 p.m. before gathering for a team dinner.

Palo Verde has six players that made varsity as freshmen or sophomores and traveled North to face Galena High in the state semifinals in 2006.

Harris, who has scored eight touchdowns in the last two games, including two on defense, was one of those players.

"It's way different up there," Harris said. "The climate is different. It's a higher elevation and it's colder. But it's an element of the game so you have to play with it."

Though the Panthers couldn't imagine being in a better position entering a state championship game, linebacker and guard David Castro said the team knows it won't be able to coast to its second championship in four years.

"We'll have to come out the hardest we've ever played, plus it's the biggest game of the year, the farthest we can go," Castro said. "In all our eyes, we're ready to get ours. We're going to do everything in our power to make that a reality."

Christopher Drexel can be reached at 990-8929 or [email protected].