Injury bug hits hard at Western

On paper, an extra week to prepare for the grueling Sunset Division schedule probably looked good to Western coach Rich Stevens.

That is until the Warriors lost three starters in last Friday's win over Palo Verde and another starter this week in practice.

Now, Stevens will need his remaining players to step up tonight against Bonanza if the Warriors (2-1) are to avoid opening their conference slate with a loss.

"We thought we'd have the extra week to iron out some wrinkles," said Stevens, whose Warriors will host the Bengals tonight at 7 p.m. "But now, we have four starters hurt."

Chief among the injured Warriors is two-way starter Thomas Evans, a fullback and inside linebacker who is nursing a sore knee. Center Teddy Dake (back), receiver Drew Alvers (knee) and cornerback Rossi Poole (knee) also will miss the game.

Evans, Dake and Poole could return for Western's game at Clark next week, but Stevens said Alvers' injury appears more serious.

Bonanza (1-2, 0-1 Sunset), which went winless in the division last year, will look to rebound from last Friday's ugly 49-0 loss at Cimarron-Memorial. That game aside, the Bengals have been competitive, losing by five to Las Vegas in week one and posting a shutout win over Silverado in week two.

Last year, Western held on for a tight 10-7 victory over Bonanza.

Another critical game has Eldorado (2-1, 1-0 Sunrise) at Basic (2-1, 1-0) in a battle of Sunrise Division unbeatens.

"For us, it's going to be our biggest test of the year," said Wolves coach Cliff Frazier, whose club opened its league schedule with an overtime win at Silverado last week.

"For us to be able to compete with one of the better teams in the conference would be important for the program."

Recent history would predict a Sundevil victory, however. Eldorado has made the playoffs six times in the last seven years, while Basic hasn't started a conference season 2-0 in Frazier's seven years at the helm.

"We know that they're strong and they have some quickness," Frazier said. "If we let them get out and play their game, it will be a track meet with us trying to catch them."

In other week four conference action, Valley travels to Las Vegas, Green Valley hosts Rancho, Silverado visits Chaparral, Bishop Gorman plays at Cheyenne and Cimarron entertains Clark.

In nonleague action, Palo Verde hosts 3A foe Virgin Valley, Mojave takes on 3A opponent Boulder City at home and Los Angeles-based Peninsula (Calif.) travels to Durango.

archive