Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

4 highlights of NIAA’s realignment of prep sports

Moapa Valley Defeats Desert Pines State Football

L.E. Baskow

Desert Pines Isaiah Morris #7 avoids a diving tackle by Moapa Valley’s Derek Cope #9 during the Division I-A state high school football championship game on Saturday, November 22, 2014.

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association today released its high school realignment plan for the next two seasons, promoting Clark, Faith Lutheran, Sierra Vista and Spring Valley to the top classification because of their success the past two years in the lower league.

The Class 4A, previously the Division I, will have 25 teams — 14 in the Sunset Region; 11 in the Sunrise. The Class 3A, previously the Division I-A, sits at 12 schools.

Unlike the past four seasons, new leagues were formed based on a school’s location. Desert Pines and Sunrise Mountain of the Class 3A were shipped from the Sunrise Region to the Sunset.

Here are some highlights:

• The all-Henderson Southeast League is back in the Class 4A. After four years of Henderson teams combining with schools from northeast Las Vegas in the same division, the new realignment pits Basic, Coronado, Foothill, Green Valley, Liberty and Silverado back in the same league of the Sunrise Region. The schools are close in proximity and have natural rivalries. The Northeast League of the Sunrise is much weaker across the board with Eldorado, Rancho, Valley, Canyon Springs and Las Vegas.

• The Black and Blue Division is back in football. The Northwest League used to be the state’s best division about eight seasons ago, and before realignment reshuffled the deck. The new Northwest will again be tough to navigate, especially in football. The schools include Arbor View, Centennial, Cimarron-Memorial, Faith Lutheran, Legacy, Palo Verde and Shadow Ridge. The Southwest League is Bishop Gorman, Bonanza, Clark, Desert Oasis, Durango, Sierra Vista and Spring Valley.

• Gorman played four league games last year. Now it has to play six, which will cut into its national schedule. And because teams in the league aren’t expected to be strong, Gorman’s strength of schedule will take a hit. You can easily speculate it will be tough for an undefeated Gorman team to again be national champions.

• The Class 3A, now at 12 schools, splits one of the best rivalries in football. Desert Pines and Moapa Valley, the perennial powers of the lower classification with a history of closely contested games, are now in separate divisions. That means they aren’t guaranteed to play each year. Desert Pines moves to the Sunset League to join with Cheyenne, Mojave, Pahrump Valley, Sunrise Mountain and Western. The Sunrise League is Boulder City, Chaparral, Del Sol, Moapa Valley, SECTA and Virgin Valley.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

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