Friday Night Roundup: Henderson Bowl has become area’s top rivalry game

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Published Friday, Oct. 14, 2016 | 7 p.m.

Updated Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016 | 12:21 a.m.

Stories from games across the valley:

• Durango football tops B.C. to remain undefeated

• Sierra Vista scores winning points with three minutes left against Desert Oasis

• Lower-level player scores TD, helps Las Vegas beat Eldorado

• Liberty football handles Coronado in ‘Rose Bowl’

• Shadow Ridge wins slugfest with Centennial, 61-46

• Bishop Gorman plays near perfect in beating Clark

• Different rival, same result: Arbor View cruises to victory

• Desert Pines notches narrow victory over Sunrise Mountain

• Moapa Valley plays its best game of the season in win over Del Sol

• Cheyenne escapes with 1-point victory over Mojave

• Lopsided win clinches playoff spot for Valley

• Defense leads Basic to Henderson Bowl win over Green Valley

• Virgin Valley shuts down prolific Chaparral offense

• • •

You can easily label the Henderson Bowl, the annual high school football game between Basic and Green Valley, as the best rivalry in Southern Nevada.

While it doesn’t have as much history as the Bone Game between Las Vegas and Rancho, or the Cleat Game between Chaparral and Eldorado, Henderson Bowl is usually competitive to elevate its importance. Last year, Basic won in the final minute; tonight at 7 another back-and-forth affair is predicted.

Las Vegas has won the Bone Game more than 20 straight years, and typically by a lopsided margin, in making the rivalry less appealing. Chaparral and Eldorado aren’t usually two of the area’s notable teams, making that game only significant to those schools and their alumni.

And other rivalries, such as tonight’s Desert Oasis-Sierra Vista matchup, or the Banner Game between Bonanza and Spring Valley, are still relatively new.

Not Henderson Bowl.

This the 26th installment of the game. It was started in the early 1990s when Green Valley opened as Henderson’s second school in creating a natural rivalry with Basic, Henderson’s first. Both schools have tremendous community support, so much that 5,000 fans are expected tonight at Basic. And at Basic, you have that hometown feel that’s generally absent in Las Vegas — everyone knows each other and waits all season for this game.

Green Valley has underachieved in dropping its initial two Southeast League games, making tonight a must-win. If the Gators, a preseason top-10 team, can’t get back on track against Basic, it will likely miss the playoffs.

Basic has a 17-4 record over the past two seasons and advanced to last year’s state semifinals. But it graduated many key performers and was expected to have a down season. The Wolves surprised some in winning five of their initial six games, only blowing a double-digit lead in an overtime loss to Canyon Springs.

It, of course, isn’t the only game we’ll be tracking tonight. We’ll have a reporter at the Banner Game, and at Cimarron-Memorial, which hosts Faith Lutheran in the Northwest League. There seems to be an upset or two every week in the Northwest, right?

We’ll keep you posted all night as scores become final. Send us your game information and photos on Twitter using #sunstandout and #702hsfb.

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