Nevada high school football title games returning to Allegiant

Last year’s announcement that the 2021 Nevada high school football championship games would be played in Alleigant Stadium for the first time didn’t come until nine days before opening kickoff of the 9 a.m. game.

There won’t be a need to burn timeouts to stop the clock this year.

With still about a month remaining before the big games in late November, the Raiders on Wednesday confirmed they once again will be rolling out the red carpet and field turf for the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and its top football teams.

“We are once again happy to provide Allegiant Stadium for the NIAA state football championships, an alignment with the Raiders’ commitment to our community and to youth football throughout the Silver State,” a club spokesman told the Review-Journal.

“We hope that more memorable experiences are created for the student-athletes and respective student bodies, fans and families that will compete in this year’s championship games.”

‘Dream come true’

This season, the class 1A, 3A and 4A championship games are scheduled for Southern Nevada, with 2A and 5A set for the north. Should two Northern Nevada teams advance to the final round in 1A or 3A, an option exists to move those games to the north. The 4A class is comprised strictly of Southern schools. Should two 2A Southern teams make it to the title game, that game also could be switched.

Despite last year’s championship games moving to Allegiant at short notice, they came off with almost nary a fumble.

The championship games are the biggest example yet of the Raiders’ commitment to high school football, which includes a permanent Battle Born helmet wall display at Allegiant and sponsorships of Coach of the Week and Year awards and a Game of the Week showcase.

The Raiders also have opened Allegiant to local high school teams for a special spring practice during the COVID pandemic. But moving last year’s championship games to the NFL franchise’s cavernous domicile was above and beyond any call of duty.

“I don’t think we could have in our wildest dreams hoped for anything better than what last year turned out to be,” NIAA spokesman Bartt Davis said of the four games for which more than 14,000 tickets were sold and were “a dream come true” for players, coaches, administrators, cheerleaders and parents.

“It was a fabulous day for all of the kids who got to participate, those who got to watch and for our state. We want to make that happen as regularly as possible. (The Raiders) are a first-class organization. They put on for us an event that we’ll never forget.”

Monday Morning Football?

Initially there was blowback from the Northern schools that had to make the trip to play on Thursday last season. But only McQueen in 5A and Yerington in 2A made the trek, and there were few complaints from the Lions once they saw Allegiant’s bright lights — which weren’t necessary to open eyes for their 9 a.m. kickoff against The Meadows.

“I was kind of surprised that at 5:30, everybody was up and ready to go,” Yerington coach Brad Pope said. “I (video) recorded them coming out of the tunnel, and the reaction was ‘Wow.’ We still play on a grass field that was there when the high school was built (in the 1930s).”

The NIAA is looking at playing the Southern part of its championship weekend on Nov. 21 — which happens to be a Monday. So get ready for “Monday Night Football,” high school style. And Monday Afternoon Football, and perhaps Monday Morning Football, too.

“I’ve said all along that if they (the Raiders and Allegiant) told us you’re playing at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, suit ‘em up and let’s go,” Davis said. “We’re thrilled to be in there. We’re hoping to make as many memories as we can.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.