Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

high school football:

Wingstop Player of the Week: He rushed for 300 yards but cares more about team winning

Taariq Flowers

Ray Brewer, iphone photo

Del Sol running back Taariq Flowers is the Wingstop Player of the Week. He’s pictured with Deb Grant, the Las Vegas Area District Manager for Wingstop.

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Ray Brewer and Case Keefer are back with their weekly discussion of the high school football scene, which is headlined this week by a top-five game pitting Basic against Arbor View. They also wonder out loud if Bishop Gorman, Liberty and Arbor View are fielding their best teams in program history this season.

When Del Sol High running back Taariq Flowers arrived home from his football game in Boulder City last week, his parents asked the same question they do each Friday night: Did you guys win?

Finally, after the Dragons lost three games to open the season, Flowers had better news. They beat Boulder City, 26-19.

He was so excited he nearly forgot to tell them what could have been considered a more significant update. Flowers, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomore who is full of potential, rushed for 300 yards and three touchdowns.

Del Sol had mustered just eight points in its initial three games. In one night, its star player tripled the scoring effort, earning the Sun’s Wingstop Player of the Week award.

“Just to say we won makes me proud,” Flowers said.

At halftime, when one of the assistant coaches told him he already had 130 rushing yards, Flowers said he was more pleased with another stat. Del Sol led by 10 points and was one half of football away from its first win.

If it took Flowers carrying the ball 40 times to secure the win, he was willing to take the punishment to get into the win column.

“He’s a good teammate,” said Jaylen Allen, his fellow Dragon and friend. “He plays with his heart. He’ll never quit on us.”

Flowers’ performance puts him in exclusive company at Del Sol, which has produced some of the city’s best running backs since opening in 2004.

In 2008, Derek Eamon rushed for 412 yards and five touchdowns in a playoff game to help Del Sol reach the regional finals. In the following season, Dezerick Reed rushed for 1,885 yards to lead the Dragons to the state championship game.

But it hasn’t been back to the playoffs since — something Flowers says he’s determined to change.

Desert Pines and Moapa Valley, teams ranked in the top 10 and expected to compete for a state championship, are all but assured two of the Sunrise League’s four playoff spots. And with Del Sol dropping its league opener in the previous week, the game against Boulder City was a must-win.

Flowers, you could argue, kept them in the playoff hunt.

“It makes you want to push harder in the weight room and in conditioning on the field to try to reach the playoffs,” Flowers said.

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

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