Members of the Desert Pines High School football team, from left, Kaleb Ramsey, Jaden Mitchell, Lorenzo Brown, Deaundre Newsome and Ant Allen pose for a portrait at the Las Vegas Sun’s high school football media day August 2, 2017, at the South Point.
Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017 | 11:05 p.m.
Prep Sports Now
Second-round showdowns
Ray Brewer and Case Keefer discuss the next set of matchups in the playoffs, and wonder if the upper level can produce some closer games.
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A rematch of last year’s class 3A state championship is locked up for 1 p.m. next Saturday.
Desert Pines will host Spring Creek, the Northern region team it defeated 39-6 in last year’s championship game. The Jaguars are back in the state semifinals after walloping Sunrise Mountain 48-0 on Thursday night.
Spring Creek edged Churchill County 35-21 to set up its shot at vengeance.
“They have a lot of the players back that they had on the team last year so it’s an experienced team, and we’re a really young team,” Desert Pines coach Tico Rodriguez. “We’re excited for them to come back.”
Desert Pines’ inclusion was never in doubt with how its quarterfinal game played out. Michael Lofton scored on an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game.
“That really deflated them a little bit I think,” Rodriguez said. “We had the momentum after that.”
Desert Pines led 35-0 at halftime behind more than 150 rushing yards from Lofton, who added a second touchdown. Jyden King, Devin McGee and Tyler Williamson all also added scores for the Jaguars.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
