Lightning cancels several high school football games

The highly anticipated start of the new high school football season in Southern Nevada was all set for Friday night.

But many teams in Las Vegas will have to wait another week to open the new season after several games were canceled because of severe weather Friday evening.

Ten games were canceled as a result of lightning. There is no update on whether those games will be rescheduled.

Per National Federation of State High School Association rules, if there is a lightning strike within a 10-mile radius of the school, 30 minutes must pass without another lightning strike before teams can return to the field. The final ruling to cancel a game is determined by the game officials.

Here are the games that were called off Friday:

— Bonanza at Eldorado

— Sierra Vista at Coronado

— Desert Oasis at Chaparral

— Del Sol at Cheyenne

— SLAM Academy at Basic

— Clark at Rancho

— Mojave at Sunrise Mountain

— Bishop Manogue at Las Vegas

— Valley at Mater East

— Desert Pines at Spring Valley

Games that were played Friday didn’t begin until 8 p.m. or later.

At Shadow Ridge, the kickoff between the Mustangs and Legacy was pushed to 8:45 p.m. According to a social media post from Shadow Ridge, the two schools and the Clark County School District decided to play the game, but with only immediate family members of players allowed into the stadium.

The decision to close the game to the public was out of caution because of a lack of campus security monitors and CCSD police who would be available after 10 p.m., according to the post.

Two-QB system

Faith Lutheran coach Mike Sanford said he has two “excellent” quarterbacks on his team, juniors Alex Rogers and Garyt Odom, so he played both of them in the Crusaders’ 24-21 home victory Friday against Palo Verde.

Rogers and Odom, the son of UNLV football coach Barry Odom, alternated possessions under center for the Crusaders, and it paid off early. Rogers threw an 8-yard touchdown pass on Faith Lutheran’s opening drive, and on the first play of its second drive, Odom ran for a 15-yard score to build an early 14-0 lead.

The Crusaders’ offense struggled to put up points the rest of the way, but both quarterbacks delivered late.

After throwing a pair of interceptions, one that led to a touchdown that gave Palo Verde a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter, Odom tied the game on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Mason Aday. Rogers had a pair of runs on the game’s final drive that set up kicker Caden Chittenden to make a 30-yard field goal for the win.

Sanford is high on both quarterbacks but said they weren’t “perfect” Friday. Expect the Crusaders to continue their two-quarterback system, as Sanford said they’ll need to better execute in all three phases to establish themselves in the Class 5A Division II Southern League.

“We had some real highs by the quarterbacks and some lows,” Sanford said. “We’ve got to eliminate those lows.”

Up next

Faith Lutheran hosts Desert Pines at 7 p.m. in the top local game in the valley next week. Other notable matchups include Basic at Silverado, Centennial at Palo Verde, Foothill at Moapa Valley and Bonanza at Spring Valley in “The Banner Game.”

Bishop Gorman, which pulled away after trailing at halftime at Corner Canyon (Utah) for a 63-42 win, will play Long Beach Poly (California) at 4 p.m. Friday in the Nike Kickoff Classic in Beaverton, Oregon.

Other teams will continue the nonleague portion of their schedules with games outside the valley. Arbor View travels to Flagstaff to face Pinnacle (Arizona), and Shadow Ridge heads up to Reno to play Spanish Springs.

Liberty hosts St. Louis (Hawaii) as part of the Island Classic at 6 p.m. Saturday.

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