Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

high school football:

Desert Oasis goes from no wins to playoff berth

LVSUN HSFB Media Day 2018

Christopher DeVargas

Members of the Desert Oasis High football team pose for a photo at the Las Vegas Sun’s high school football media day Tuesday July 31, 2018 at the Red Rock Resort and Casino. They include, from left, Alvin Pomare, Laakea Mulivai and Brandon Cuevas.

Two seasons ago, the Desert Oasis High football team won just one game. Last year, the Diamondbacks were winless.

This season, it’s been a different story.

Desert Oasis clinched a winning record two weeks ago. Tonight, it qualified for the playoffs as the Southwest League’s No. 4 seed with a 30-28 victory over host Silverado.

“What a turnaround,” Diamondbacks coach Mike Ovens said.

Christian Vaughn had nearly 200 rushing yards and two touchdowns, carrying his team — for yet another Friday night — to victory.

“He was just a workhorse, man,” Ovens said. “He was grinding tonight.”

Colton Zobrist tossed a 51-yard touchdown to Laakea Mulivai with about three minutes to play for the winning points. Zobrist also kicked a field goal at the end of the first half for a 22-10 lead, and ultimately the winning points. Also, Noah Geeser made “three or four great catches,” the coach said.

Desert Oasis opens the playoffs next week at Liberty, the eight-time defending regional champions.

“We are in the playoffs. We have to go play Liberty, and that’s OK,” Ovens said. “We know what we are up against.”

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