Associated Press
Hasaan Henderson tries to make a catch in the end zone during a game against Colorado State
Monday, Sept. 28, 2015 | 2 a.m.
A common complaint throughout UNLV’s history of football struggle has been the school’s inability to keep more of the city’s players in town.
There’s talent here, now more than ever, yet the majority of our first-, second- and even third-tier players look elsewhere to continue their careers. And when those players get their chance, they often go off for big games against the Rebels.
Game info
Kickoff: 4 p.m. at Mackay Stadium
Television: Online stream via Mountain West Network by Campus Insiders
Series history: UNR leads 24-16
Betting line (subject to change): UNR minus-10.5
Southern Nevadans at UNR
Hasaan Henderson wasn’t the first Las Vegas-area high school football player to head to Northern Nevada to play at UNR — and he surely won’t be the last, considering the success locals continue to have with the Wolf Pack.
One of the best players in UNR program history, running back Frank Hawkins, is a Las Vegas native and a product of Western High School.
Hawkins, who is a College Football Hall of Fame inductee, was a three-time first-team All-American with the Wolf Pack from 1978 to 1980. He set the NCAA record with 21 straight games of more than 100 rushing yards, finishing his career with 5,333 yards. At the time, that was third-best in NCAA history.
Hawkins played seven seasons in the NFL and in 1984 won the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Raiders.
Linebacker DeShone Myles, a Cheyenne High graduate, is part of UNR’s Team of the Century, finishing his career as its all-time leader in tackles with 528. He was the 1996 Big West Defensive Player of the Year and owns four of UNR’s top six single-season records in tackles. He was a fourth-round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks.
Brandon Marshall, who is one of the NFL’s top linebackers with the Denver Broncos, was a four-year starter at UNR through the 2011 season. He led the Wolf Pack with 102 tackles in 2011.
— Ray Brewer
Rivalry week comes early
The Fremont Cannon game takes place almost two months before college football’s traditional rivalry week.
But this might be the last year Nevada’s preeminent football feud is separated from similar matchups across the country. UNLV vs. UNR is expected to move permanently to the end of the regular season in 2016.
The Mountain West Conference previously didn’t let members ask for specific dates for league games. That changed this summer when the conference passed a measure allowing each school to request one date per season.
Both UNLV and UNR agreed their series should revert to last year’s scheduling and fall annually on Thanksgiving weekend.
Arizona’s Anu Solomon, a Bishop Gorman High graduate, passed for 425 yards and four touchdowns in his collegiate debut against UNLV last season. Air Force’s Jacobi Owens, a Centennial High graduate, scored a touchdown and ran for 138 yards, his career high against Division I competition, in last year’s Falcons win. And San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey, a Canyon Springs High grad, has averaged 7.3 yards per attempt with five touchdowns in two games against the Rebels.
Now, it’s Hasaan Henderson’s turn.
A two-time all-state quarterback and shooting guard for Las Vegas High, Henderson now is a redshirt junior and UNR’s leading receiver through three games. It’s the home game next weekend, though, that will have Henderson and the Wolf Pack most amped up.
Henderson was a reserve who didn’t see the field two years ago and was injured last year, so his first Battle for the Fremont Cannon will take place at 4 p.m. Oct. 3. And as a Las Vegas kid who was more a fan of the Wolf Pack, he can’t wait to make his rivalry debut.
“This game always brings out the best in everybody’s focus,” Henderson said. “The intensity switch is going to hit, and you’ll see the determination to keep the cannon.”
At Las Vegas High, Henderson ran a pistol offense. When his cousin told him to check out a guy named Colin Kaepernick running something similar up in Reno, Henderson started following the Wolf Pack more closely.
Both in-state schools recruited him hard, and while position was a factor — UNR said he could play quarterback, UNLV did not — when it came down to decision time, Henderson knew he wanted to get out of town.
“That was definitely a part of it,” Henderson said. “It felt like more of a family place when I came up here. My whole family fell in love with the area.”
A second injury to Henderson’s throwing shoulder brought a position change before his career really started at UNR. After first learning tight end and then receiver on the fly, the 6-foot-5, 220-pounder turned himself into one of the best targets in the Mountain West. His touchdown catch against Texas A&M was one of the top college football plays of the season, because Henderson had a defender draped over him, to the point it didn’t appear Henderson could see the ball.
“The only time I didn’t see it was when he actually pushed me,” said Henderson, who fought through a pass interference penalty on the play.
Entering a game against Buffalo, Henderson ranked third in the league in receptions per game and fifth in receiving yards per game, the latter right behind UNLV’s Devonte Boyd, a Basic High grad. Boyd is the top local product on the Rebels’ roster. He likely would have headed elsewhere too but faced academic issues, making UNLV the ultimate benefactor in getting a great player.
While not at the position he originally expected, Henderson will get plenty of chances to be the next Southern Nevada product to shine with college football’s heaviest and most expensive trophy on the line. The Wolf Pack have won nine of the past 10 in the series, and as a pro future lingers as a possibility, Henderson is happy he picked the north side of the rivalry.
“It has been exactly what I wanted it to be,” he said.
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