Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Western wants to regain reputation as one of Southwest’s top programs

Prep Football Mugs 2010

Sam Morris

Allen Davis, Western High School.

Coach Fernando Carmona

Western High coach Fernando Carmona talks about the 2010 high school football season.

Prep Sports Now

Previewing the new football season

Las Vegas Sun reporters Case Keefer and Ray Brewer discuss the upcoming high school football season. They will let you know whether or not anyone can dethrone defending state champion Bishop Gorman, release their state title sleepers teams and give a quick breakdown of the area's 30-plus schools.

Expanded coverage

Western coach Fernando Carmona will take the blame for what happened with his team last season.

Western went 1-8 and lost six of those games by 29 points or more. Carmona promises the Warriors will be more unified this season and it starts with the coaching.

“It’s been tough, but last year we were really wishy-washy with what we did,” Carmona said. “This year, we have a game plan and we’re sticking with it good or bad. It’s simple, but should be effective.”

Western’s transformation starts with a revamping of the offense and the defense. Carmona said the team would run different completely different schemes on both sides of the ball in 2010.

The players have already embraced the changes, Carmona said.

“I think they see the coaches are on the same page and we’re all striving for the same thing,” Carmona said. “We’re going to come into practice knowing what we’re working on and ready to move forward.”

The days of Western having one of the top teams in the Sunset Southwest division are long gone. The Warriors have only won three games in the last two years, but Carmona said reaching the playoffs was a realistic goal this season.

Western used a number of running backs last season to guide its offense. The offense returns one of those running backs, senior Allen Davis, this season.

Carmona thinks Davis will have plenty of room to run this year.

“We’re excited about our front line,” Carmona said. “They are real big, strong and have jelled together. It’s going to be one of the most positive parts of our team.”

Defensively, Aaron Buckley will lead the Warriors. Buckley will start at linebacker and also play receiver offensively.

Western lost a handful of starters on defense, but it could end up as a positive getting new kids an opportunity to compete.

If nothing else, they will be quick to the ball.

“We will live up to the Western tradition of having pretty good speed,” Carmona said. “I expect our guys to make the playoffs.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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