Members of the Arbor View 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, Greg Rogers, Mike Sims, Ryan Hurley, Andrew Wagner, and Hayden Bollinger.
Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016 | 1 a.m.
Prep Sports Now
Rubric rant
Las Vegas Sun sports editors Ray Brewer and Case Keefer embark on their weekly discussion of all things high school football, covering a variety of topics ranging from Bishop Gorman's big win to the need for realignment.
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Arbor View’s offense faced four plays that were fourth downs with less than five yards to go in the opening quarter and a half of Friday night’s game at Centennial.
The Aggies went for it every time, successfully picking up all but one to establish the tone they would follow throughout a 28-7 stomping of the Bulldogs.
“I felt confident with our offense, and we wanted to put it on our kids,” Arbor View coach Dan Barnson said. “We wanted to do what we do.”
And the Aggies did it exceptionally well in picking up a regular-season victory over their neighborhood rival for the ninth consecutive year. The latest win arguably showcased the Aggies’ approach better than any previous one during the streak.
The fourth-down conversions played into them totally controlling the tempo of the game, as they held the ball for nearly 35 minutes of the 48-minute contest. Arbor View ran double the plays of Centennial, 62 to 31, and picked up three times the yardage, 415 to 138.
“That’s Aggie football all day,” senior quarterback Hayden Bollinger declared.
Bollinger bullied his way into the end zone on a 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line midway through the first half. He’d go on to throw for three touchdowns and 171 yards on 8-for-15 passing.
Andrew Wagner, DeKarri Gun and Deago Stubbs all caught touchdown passes. Arbor View has perhaps never thrown that successfully in previous wins over Centennial.
“(Bollinger) and the guys we throw to allow us to change things up,” Barnson said. “That puts a lot of pressure on the D-coordinator on the other side.”
The defensive coordinator on Arbor View’s sideline, John Gibbons, felt comparatively little suspense. The Aggies’ defense didn’t give up any points all night.
The Bulldogs’ only score came on a 91-yard kickoff return from Savon Scarver in the fourth quarter when they were down 28-0. Much of the buzz pregame centered on highly recruited Arbor View senior defensive tackle Greg Rogers returning to Centennial, where he played his first three years of high school.
Rogers proved worth the hype as he and cohorts Elijah Wade and Cameron Moore shut down the Bulldogs’ running game and made senior quarterback Jamaal Evans uncomfortable in the pocket. Evans had scored 21 touchdowns coming into the game, but Arbor View held him to 73 total yards.
Centennial initially tried to employ Evans as a receiver early in the game but he only had one target, which Arbor View defensive back Phenix Calinao broke up.
“When you prepare the kids well, they don’t have to think,” Barnson said. “They can just go out there and play, and I felt we prepared them very well.”
Centennial only had three plays of more than 10 yards in the game, and the biggest ended up being a positive for Arbor View. Scarver broke loose on a 40-yard reception on Centennial’s first drive, but Arbor View forced and recovered a fumble at the end of the play.
The Aggies set off on a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive from there.
“We came in here to the Dawg Pound and stepped it up tonight,” Bollinger said. “It feels great, especially this being my last year playing that blue team.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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