Faith Lutheran gained confidence in lower league, won’t be easy in next classification

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Tuesday, July 14, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Faith Lutheran the past four years has shown how high school sports realignment in Nevada was supposed to work.

A points system based on championships and where teams finished in the standings reclassified most Las Vegas schools four years ago into two divisions — Division I for schools the formula determined were most competitive and Division I-A for schools struggling to field competitive teams.

Faith Lutheran, which mostly took its lumps competing in the old 4A large-school classification, was part the group headed to the lower Division I-A. It would compete against small-town schools (Pahrump Valley) or schools lacking participation numbers (Western) with the goal of growing its program.

And that’s just what the Crusaders did, dominating the Division I-A with state championships in everything from football to three straight titles in girls golf. Fittingly, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association determined last month that Faith Lutheran would move to the larger Division I for the 2016-17 school year.

“We are definitely in better shape now than two years ago,” said Bret Walter, the Crusaders’ longtime athletic director and basketball coach. “That was the whole reason of Division I-A, for people to rebuild their programs. It was valuable for our school.”

When Faith Lutheran was realigned to Division I-A, its enrollment was 625 students and they didn’t have enough turnout to fill some lower-level teams. Next fall, the enrollment will be 850 to 875 students, Walter said. More important, they have established a winning tradition and expect to be competitive.

“With multiple programs we have talked about the opportunity to play in the higher division for awhile,” Walter said. “It makes sense for us to move. It creates more of an excitement.”

The Crusaders won the football state championship in 2013 and were ranked locally in the top 10, regardless of classification, in the final month of the season. And, last year, they won the Sunset League and lost in the final seconds to Desert Pines in the playoffs to narrowly miss a berth in the state semifinals.

But, despite the success on the field and leadership of coach Vernon Fox, a former NFL player many consider one of the city’s elite coaches, signs of struggle still exist. Fox hopes to field a freshman team for the first time in his three-year coaching tenure this fall, knowing a spike in participation numbers is the only way to prepare for a higher level of play.

If Faith Lutheran gets the numbers, they could be a force when considering the successes of the past two seasons.

They’ve developed players such as Boise State signee John Molchon on the offensive line, and speedster Marc Rubalcaba, track’s Gatorade Player of the Year, at wide receiver. Molchon was mostly a basketball player until Fox converted him from a tight end to lineman and one of the area’s best recruits in 2014. Rubalcaba thrived in the open field with his speed.

“It will be a challenge. At the same time, we are in a blessed position to be considered,” Fox said. “We have had a high level of success in most sports.”

Duplicating the success in a league with the likes of power Bishop Gorman, or schools such as Arbor View and Centennial that regularly have about 200 players in the football program, won’t be easy in any sport. In their first stint in the higher league, Faith Lutheran learned that the hard way by suffering a few lopsided defeats — in football, they posted a 2-7 record in 2011, the last season in the top division, and were outscored 402-116.

“Our football program declined when we were in 4A the last time,” Walter said.

Fox is determined not to have another decline. He’s developed players to be bigger and stronger, and most important because of the lower league, to have confidence. In 2013, Faith Lutheran won its final 12 games in Fox's debut season to win the school’s first football state championship.

When he was hired, he told players they would have a winning program. With each victory, those teenagers started to firmly believe that was going to happen. A similar line of reasoning will surely be used next fall with the jump in competition.

“We have kids come out who weren’t considering football in the past (because of the success),” Fox said.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21