Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

kickoff 2016:

Western football out to end streak, continue to improve

2016 High School Football

Christopher DeVargas

Members of the Western High football team pose for a photo at the Las Vegas Sun’s high school football media day July 20, 2016 at the South Point. They include, from left, Eric Barragan, Anthony Shelby, Roger Harris and Jene Wilson.

2016 High School Football

Members of the Cheyenne High football team pose for a photo at the Las Vegas Sun's high school football media day July 20, 2016 at the South Point. They include, from left, Corwin Bush, William Federson, John Tarver, and Deriontae Green. Launch slideshow »
Prep Sports Now

Football: There is no close second

Las Vegas Sun sports editors Ray Brewer and Case Keefer ring in the start of football season by discussing some of the valley's top storylines and teams, like Bishop Gorman, Liberty, Arbor View and Desert Pines.

When the Western Warriors football team takes the field for their season opener against Del Sol on Friday, it will have been 2,121 days since they last won a game.

While the five-year drought is no doubt on the minds of many players and coaches, they know those years had nothing to do with the team that will take the field.

“None of these guys were here five years ago and neither was I, so even though we represent Western we don’t really look at it as a streak,” second-year Western coach John Norton. “We focus one day at a time and keep everything going in a positive direction and the kids have really bought into that.”

Senior running back Jene Wilson was in the sixth grade when the streak started, but is determined to end his career at Western with wins.

“It makes me more hyped and want to win the game even more,” Wilson said.

The Warriors will be led on offense by running backs Wilson and Roger Harrison, who combined for 196 yards and a touchdown in 2015.

“We can work as a team now because we played together last year,” Harrison said. “We know how each other play now.”

Western will have some winnable games on its schedule. The Warriors’ non-conference slate includes Del Sol, Clark, Bonanza and Virgin Valley, who combined to go 11-25 last season.

“Obviously we haven’t won in awhile so until we do, we belong where we belong,” Norton said. “. We think that we are going to be competitive against those teams and there are winnable games out there.”

Western will also host Pahrump Valley on Oct. 14. The Warriors’ last win came against the Trojans on Nov. 5, 2010.

Norton believes his team will be much better in the second year of his tenure at Western. If there’s something more difficult than turning around a struggling program, it’s doing it while installing a sophisticated pro-style offense.

“I think because we run pro style systems on both sides, there are a lot of check-with-me stuff,” Norton said. “Now in the second year everyone is a lot more comfortable with that and you will see that we can play faster this year.”

While the pro-style schemes could work in Western’s favor in the future, it was extremely tough on the players last season.

Western was outscored 446-50 last season, and threw only three touchdowns to 15 interceptions.

This year, they are putting extra emphasis on not turning the ball over at such a high rate.

“The thing I need to work on at my position is holding on to that ball, keep going straight ahead, and score touchdowns,” Wilson said. “That’s it.”

It may still be a work in progress, but it appears Norton has the program in the right direction.

“He gets on us mostly every day to get better,” Harrison said. “We stay focused in the weight room and he helps us with everything.”

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