FIELDER’S CHOICES: Halfway through, it’s time for Fieldies

In case you’ve forgotten, the Fieldies are my midseason awards. Normally they come with a trophy, but Eric, Skeet and I were too busy watching the live stream of “Utopia” and forgot to put in the order.

The envelopes, please …

■ Most Valuable Player (Division I) — Russell Booze, Bishop Gorman. I know everyone is gushing about Gaels sophomore quarterback Tate Manziel, err, Martell, but Booze has given Gorman the home run hitter in the running game it lacked last season. The 5-foot-10-inch, 180-pound senior is second in the area with 797 rushing yards — granted, that’s in six games — after gaining 886 yards a season ago.

■ MVP (small schools) — Zach Hymas, Moapa Valley. The senior quarterback has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 13-to-1, and the Pirates are the only undefeated team in the wildly entertaining Division I-A Southern Region. That alone deserves some recognition, if not a vote in the Southern Nevada Football Coaches Poll.

■ Best argument after a successful extra-point attempt — Spring Valley’s special teams. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t want to stay on the kicking tee, right guys?

■ Most inspirational performance — Junior Paongo, Virgin Valley. After attending his father’s funeral Saturday, the senior rushed for 143 yards and four touchdowns that night to help the host Bulldogs beat Sunrise Mountain 54-18. The fact former Virgin Valley coach Chris Sawyers was on the Miners’ sideline added another layer to Paongo’s emotional day.

■ The Las Vegas Posse award — Liberty’s public-address announcer, who made a reference to the “53-yard line” during the game against Palo Verde. Blame Canada.

I still have plenty of room to improve my record against the spread, and I should do better now that league play is starting. The majority of this week’s games are tonight, so you have one fewer day to see the rest of my picks on Nevadapreps.com.

■ Canyon Springs at Liberty — Having this game at the start of Northeast League play rather than the end is a shame. It would be like NASCAR opening with the biggest race on its schedule. Oh, wait, NASCAR does that.

The Patriots have been a bogey team for Canyon Springs with six victories over the Pioneers since 2009. And I know Liberty coach Rich Muraco is treating this as the biggest game of the season, so his defense will be ready. … Liberty by 3.

■ Green Valley at Basic — The Henderson Bowl meant something when the Gators were hanging out in the Northeast League the past two seasons. Now that these schools are back to being league rivals, the intensity should get turned up even further.

Green Valley has won three straight over the Wolves and is coming off a bye. That means the Gators are rested and likely armed with a few trick plays, too. … Green Valley by 7.

■ Spring Valley at Mojave — They call Saturday “Moving Day” on the PGA Tour, and today is “Moving Day” in the Division I-A Sunset League, which has five teams tied for first at 2-1.

The Rattlers didn’t have much time to wallow in Saturday’s last-second loss to Faith Lutheran. That could be a good thing. … Mojave by 2.

■ Las Vegas at Coronado — The Wildcats will be without running back Elias Miller for this game, which is a problem. The bigger problem for Las Vegas is that the Cougars are much better than expected.

Coronado had Arbor View on the ropes last week, and I’m pretty sure the Cougars are the best two-loss team in the area. A win here would convince me. … Coronado by 6.

■ Clark at Sierra Vista — These teams are part of that five-team logjam atop the Sunset League standings, but I don’t have the slightest idea which one is better. Heck, I couldn’t even tell you which four teams from the Sunset will make the playoffs, and I’ve done all kinds of number crunching on that subject.

All I know is the Chargers have alternated wins and losses this season, and they’re due for an L this week. … Sierra Vista by 5.

■ Cimarron-Memorial at Palo Verde — I’m pretty clueless when it comes to the Sunset Region, but it’s easy to figure out why the Spartans have lost two straight. You don’t win many games by averaging 167 yards of offense like Cimarron has during its skid.

Palo Verde is yet to score an offensive point in two road games. Luckily for the Panthers, this is a home game. … Palo Verde by 14.

■ Valley at Silverado — I haven’t written much about these teams, and it’s always good to spread the love and include different schools in this space. (Notice the absence of a certain private school located on South Hualapai Way from my picks this week? Yeah, Faith Lutheran isn’t in here, either.)

The Vikings are winless this season and will have a difficult time stopping Silverado running back Deyon McKinney. That’s the extent of my analysis because, honestly, I included this game so I could improve my record ATS. It’s my lock of the week! … Silverado by 20.

■ Pahranagat Valley at Spring Mountain — The Panthers and Golden Eagles have met in the past two Division IV state title games, and this could be a sneak preview of this year’s final.

Spring Mountain appears to be the biggest threat to the Panthers’ 73-game winning streak. Should the Golden Eagles win, I’m guessing “NBC Nightly News” won’t show up to do a story. … Pahranagat Valley by 17.

Last week: 5-3, 4-3-1 (with points)

Season: 25-14, 20-18-1 (with points)

Contact Fielder at Fielder@nevadapreps.com. Follow @FielderNVP on Twitter.