FIELDER’S CHOICES: Rivalry games dominate football schedule

Dust off the bootleg T-shirts with the funny slogans, and get the trophies out of storage.

It’s “Rivalry Week” across the valley.

“Everybody needs a nemesis,” Lisa Simpson once told her brother, Bart. “Sherlock Holmes had his Dr. Moriarty. Mountain Dew has its Mello Yello. Even Maggie has that baby with the one eyebrow.”

The prep football schedule is stuffed so full of rivalry games this week, we needed an extra day to fit them all in.

I’ve included every rivalry game — and even a few that aren’t official rivalries — in my picks.

■ Foothill at Silverado (Thursday) — These teams met twice last season, with the Falcons taking the regular-season matchup and Silverado avenging that loss in the Sunrise Region quarterfinals. I’m pretty sure that means Foothill still has possession of the “Victory Bell.”

This game should come down to which team can run the ball effectively. And nobody has moved the ball on the ground this season against the Skyhawks. … Silverado by 11.

■ Green Valley at Basic — The Stats and Info Dept. went deep into the annals of the Henderson Bowl for a few numbers. The Gators lead the overall series 15-10 after Basic won last season to snap a four-game losing streak against its rival. Also, seven of the past 11 meetings have been decided by seven points or fewer.

Green Valley has seen two good passing attacks this season and given up 49 points both times (vs. Centennial and Liberty). Luckily for the Wolves, throwing the ball is what they do best. … Basic by 7.

■ Desert Oasis at Sierra Vista — Remember when the Railroad Rivalry was the new Henderson Bowl? Then the recession hit the southwest part of town, and realignment split apart the schools and, well, you can’t make “fetch” happen, right?

The Diamondbacks are 6-1 all time against Sierra Vista and can spoil the Mountain Lions’ perfect record before their showdown next week against first-place Durango. I can’t believe I just wrote that last part. … Desert Oasis by 1.

■ Centennial at Shadow Ridge — Centennial is included in my picks so often, readers probably think that’s where I go to school. It’s not. But I can’t help it if the Bulldogs are involved in a lot of interesting games. For instance, this is a must-win for Centennial if it hopes to make the playoffs.

I read somewhere that these schools were considered rivals. By my count, Centennial is rivals with Arbor View, Legacy and the Mustangs. The Bulldogs are the Regina George of the Northwest League. … Shadow Ridge by 3.

■ Bonanza at Spring Valley — Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about the Banner Game. Both teams are winless in the Southwest League and need a victory to keep their fading postseason hopes alive. … Bonanza by 5.

■ Mojave at Cheyenne — These schools have to be rivals, right? They’re less than 4 miles apart. Maybe they can play for a bronzed slab of bacon in honor of the nearby pig farm that is relocating. … Cheyenne by 7½.

■ Clark at Bishop Gorman — These schools had to be rivals when Gorman was located on Maryland Parkway, right? … Gorman by 48½.

■ Chaparral at Virgin Valley — All right, no more screwing around, people. First place in the Class 3A Sunrise League is at stake in Mesquite.

The Stats and Info Dept. couldn’t figure out when the Cowboys’ last league title was; admittedly, they were feeling pretty lazy after digging up all those numbers for the Henderson Bowl. And Virgin Valley hasn’t won a league title since 2007 when the 3A Southern League had five teams. Ahh, the halcyon days.

The Bulldogs can clinch the league title and the No. 1 seed with a victory. But they’ll have to stop the Cowboys’ passing attack, and that hasn’t happened all season. … Chaparral by 4.

■ Desert Pines at Sunrise Mountain — The Miners are the only team that stand in the way of Desert Pines clinching the Class 3A Sunset League.

The Jaguars led only 12-8 midway through the third quarter last week against Cheyenne and haven’t been blowing out opponents recently. Could they be vulnerable? Nah. … Desert Pines by 16.

■ Valley at Rancho — The winner of this game pretty much clinches the No. 4 seed from the Northeast League in the Sunrise Region playoffs. I’m just going to leave this here. … Valley by 6.

Last week: 7-2, 6-3 (with points).

Season: 43-14, 38-19 (with points).

Contact Fielder at Fielder@nevadapreps.com. Follow him: @FielderNVP