Nevada high school football teams fighting for league titles

Faith Lutheran coach Mike Sanford is fully aware of the elephant in the room.

Sanford’s Crusaders and Foothill are tied atop the Class 5A Division II standings, with both teams at 3-0 midway through their league schedules.

A matchup between Faith Lutheran and Foothill looms next week with the league title and a first-round bye in the region playoffs likely on the line.

But coming off a bye, Sanford said, his team has not been caught up on what would be one of the most anticipated games of the season.

“The elephant in the room is that Foothill is a really good team,” Sanford said. “But we can’t think about them right now. We’ve got to focus on Durango.”

Faith Lutheran plays at Durango at 6 p.m. Friday, and Foothill hosts Green Valley at 6 p.m. With 5A splitting into three divisions and adding two more state title games this season, league titles in 5A Division II and III remain up for grabs in the final three weeks of the regular season.

“There is a lot of parity in our division,” Sanford said. “There’s a lot of really good teams.”

Sanford said he is still looking for his team to put together a complete game and play consistently in all three phases, especially on offense.

Faith Lutheran has relied on both of its quarterbacks, juniors Alex Rogers and Garyt Odom, to lead the attack. Sanford said pass protection will be key in helping the Crusaders’ offense play to its full potential.

“They have each developed every week,” Sanford said of his quarterbacks. “There have been weeks where one has done better than the other, but we expect them to keep getting better as they get more reps.”

Foothill coach Vernon Brown said he knew the Falcons’ final three league games would be the toughest part of their schedule. After playing Green Valley this week and Faith Lutheran next week, Foothill closes out the season at Basic on Oct. 20 in the “Battle for Boulder Highway.”

The Falcons got tested last week against Sierra Vista, falling behind 6-0 and committing four turnovers before winning 21-12.

“They know now we can win the tough games, in particular with our defense. That was a problem early on,” Brown said. “We seem like we’re getting things in order there. If we could put all three phases together, we’re thinking we got a good shot at winning this thing.”

Reed and Bishop Manogue are tied atop the 5A Division II Northern League standings. Reed (6-1, 2-0) defeated Faith Lutheran 38-24 on Sept. 1. Bishop Manogue (4-2, 2-0) has won four straight while holding opponents to 28 points the last four weeks.

In 5A Division III, Palo Verde and Legacy are the last undefeated teams in the league and will face off next week. Coach Joe Aznarez said the Panthers have taken things one week at a time as they’ve faced tough opponents in their nonleague schedule.

“Through league play, it’s fairly balanced around town in our league,” Aznarez said. “There are some teams, including us and Legacy, we’ve had some success early on. As we get deeper into the league, being able to sustain that will be more difficult.”

Palo Verde lost to 5A Division I opponent Coronado 33-6 last week and lost close games to Faith Lutheran and Centennial earlier in the season. Aznarez said his players feel they’ve gotten better by playing tougher opponents and he sees them embracing the opportunity to make a run at a state title.

“With this new alignment, we’ve seen our kids respond to the weekly buy-in, and it’s given a lot of teams in town something to look forward to,” Aznarez said. “Some of the races in 5A Division II are going to be so interesting to see it play out. Talking with other coaches in town, it’s been a positive thing for Las Vegas football for sure.”

Douglas is 6-1 and atop the 5A Division III Northern League standings. The Tigers’ lone loss was 21-14 at Reed, and they have outscored opponents 231-58.

Bishop Gorman has a stranglehold on the 5A Division I title race. The Gaels rolled past Liberty 49-6 on Sept. 14. Liberty plays at Arbor View next week. The Aggies had to forfeit two league games as punishment for a fight after their win over Desert Pines, but a win next week would give Arbor View the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

Class 4A

Things are pretty clear-cut in 4A, as Centennial and Canyon Springs are running away from the Desert and Mountain leagues, respectively. Both teams moved down to 4A from 5A after struggling in the top classification for the last two years.

Centennial (6-1, 4-0) is outscoring league opponents 174-50, and Canyon Springs (5-0, 3-0) has held league opponents to 15 points while scoring 112.

Canyon Springs faces its toughest two-game stretch with a pair of league opponents who are also undefeated in Mountain League play. The Pioneers play at Chaparral (3-2, 3-0) at 6 p.m. Friday and host Sunrise Mountain (5-1, 4-0) the following week.

Somerset-Losee (5-2, 3-1) gave Centennial its toughest league game in a 38-28 effort on Sept. 8.

Class 3A

SLAM Academy (5-1, 4-0 3A Southern League) sits alone atop the standings and can get closer to wrapping up the league title as it hosts Virgin Valley (5-2, 3-1) at 6 p.m. Friday.

Virgin Valley suffered its first league loss last week in a 28-14 defeat at Boulder City. Virgin Valley, Moapa Valley and Boulder City enter Friday in a three-way tie for second place in the standings with a 3-1 league record.

SLAM Academy made a statement by crushing preseason league co-favorite Moapa Valley 34-7 in Overton on Sept. 14. With a league title, the Bulls will have a bye in the regional playoffs and would host a state semifinal against a Northern opponent.

Reigning state champion Truckee (7-0), which defeated SLAM Academy in last year’s 3A state title game, is running away in the 3A Northern League.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.