Playoff losses provide extra motivation for Silverado, Green Valley

By Sean Ammerman

Monday, Aug. 18, 2008 | 12:35 p.m.

The first day of full-contact football practice couldn’t have come any sooner for Silverado defensive end Keenan Graham.

The senior captain spent the summer lifting weights and conditioning with his team’s 12-7 loss to Las Vegas High in last year’s Sunrise Regional semifinals in the back of his mind.

Now he can get back to what he loves most about the sport — the crunching of pads and helmets.

“Hitting is my favorite part of football,” he said. “We’re excited to get our pads on. It’s exciting because we have been waiting for this since last season ended and it’s finally here now.”

High schools from across the Las Vegas Valley got into full pads Aug. 18 for the first day of contact practice.

“When you’re not in pads it seems to drag on a bit and I can see the kids are pretty excited to finally get into full contact,” Silverado coach Andy Ostolaza said. “Our first pregame will just be to work the kinks out. This year we have so many juniors we’re counting on that we’re waiting to find out who can actually play at this level.”

Silverado, which opens Aug. 29 against Desert Pines, is coming off its first ever Southeast Division title. While the Skyhawks were a surprise last season, they will no longer be under the radar.

“We’re really talented this year and I’m excited,” Silverado wide receiver Michael Wadsworth said. “We got a lot of people who can play and that takes some pressure off of everybody else.”

For Green Valley High coach Matt Gerber, the first full-contact practice is one of the busiest days of the year.

In addition to getting the varsity team started right he must keep an extra eye on the junior varsity and freshman team, many of whom will adorn their first set of pads.

But with the first practice comes new opportunities, and Gerber hopes to improve on last season’s first round playoff loss to Canyon Springs.

“Once you get pads on, that’s when the football season really starts,” he said. “That’s when you start to find out who’s a player and who’s not. There’s only so much you can learn playing two-hand touch.”

John Mannion, who is starting his first season at Coronado, said the first day of contact practice is filled with pressure.

Formerly an assistant with Del Sol, Mannion has the daunting task of installing a new offense and defense before the Cougars start play against Clark on Aug. 29.

“With most teams, you have the opportunity to take your kids to a full contact camp before August,” he said. “We didn’t get that opportunity, so I am still meeting a lot of the new players.”

As with most teams, Coronado took the first day to work on the basics and ease the team back into shape.

There wasn’t much tackling, but Mannion promises there will be by week’s end.

“There’s going to be some bruised egos and who knows what else by the end of the week,” he said.

Sean Ammerman writes for the Home News and can be reached at 990-2661 or [email protected].