Members of the Desert Oasis High football team pose for a photo at the Las Vegas Sun’s high school football media day July 20, 2016 at the South Point. They include, from left, Brandon Smith, Brannon Flowers, and Desmond Kuresa.
Friday, Sept. 2, 2016 | 11:30 p.m.
Prep Sports Now
Week 1 ruled
Las Vegas Sun sports editors Ray Brewer and Case Keefer recap a particularly memorable week 1 in Las Vegas high school football that included Bishop Gorman obliterated a Texas power and two games between top five teams that came down to the final minute.
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Desert Oasis did enough defensively to pick up a victory over a visiting California opponent.
The offense couldn’t complement the effort. John Muir High from Pasadena, Calif. edged Desert Oasis 6-0.
“We got down there and had our chances,” Desert Oasis coach Mike Ovens said. “It was just not executing at the right time.”
Elijah Blades, a Florida commit, broke loose for John Muir’s only points. He also broke an 87-yard touchdown run that was called back for a penalty.
Ovens took some consolation in the way the Diamondbacks defended against such a high-powered attack.
“(Blades) can really play,” Ovens said. “I thought we did as good of a job as we could possibly do against him.”
The Diamondbacks may have inadvertently gotten more comfortable with a new offensive wrinkle. When quarterback Mitch Moniz went down with an knee injury, they were forced to run a Wildcat formation featuring receiver Jaden Mitchell at quarterback.
Ovens thought Mitchell managed well. Desert Oasis just continued to stall at the wrong times.
The Diamondbacks sit at 0-2, but showed flashes in keeping it close against two strong teams.
“I could have scheduled teams we were technically supposed to beat but I didn’t want to do that,” Ovens said. “I wanted to go in there and play the tough games. These are the teams you measure yourself against.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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