You can smell it in the air, with the start of high school football pre-season conditioning beginning earlier this week you know that we are just a few weeks away from the first games of the season.
You can also smell it in the air, because California wildfires continue to try and wreak havoc on our area and make our air quality unhealthy - Thanks a lot Park Fire. If the beginning of fall sports has taught us anything over the past few years it's to be flexible, because it looks likely that schedules will be thrown for a loop if the wildfires continue to burn, but fingers crossed, let hope that it doesn't impact us the way it did a few years back but I digress. Without further ado let's get started.
Now that the calendar has officially turned to August I am prepared to kick off previews of the Northern Nevada high school football season. I am extremely excited to be bringing these previews to you for the third straight season - to everyone who reads my articles over the next few weeks/months I'd like to once again say "Thank You." With my brief intro out of the way, let's take a look at what you can expect from me over the next few weeks.
I will preview many teams from around the Northern 5A, and 3A (assuming I can get in touch with all of the coaches between now and then) in the coming weeks. I will also have a few surprises along the way with other articles if time permits. Here is my tentative schedule for when those previews will be out:
Aug. 1: Five Things I'm looking forward to this high school football season
Aug. 2: Bishop Manogue
Aug. 3: Douglas
Aug. 5: Galena
Aug. 6: Truckee (Calif.)
Aug. 6: North Valleys
Aug. 7: Spanish Springs
Aug. 8: Fernley, Sparks
Aug. 9: Carson
Aug. 10: McQueen, Reed
Aug. 11: Reno
Aug. 12: Churchill County, Damonte Ranch
Aug. 13: Elko, Spring Creek
Aug. 14: Lowry, Wooster
Aug. 15: Hug, So. Tahoe (Calif.), Pershing County
Aug. 15: League Previews, Season Predictions
Aug. 16: All 24 Pre-Season Teams for Northern Nevada
Aug. 16: Pound-for-Pound All Class Northern Nevada Power Rankings
Aug. 16: Game Previews and Predictions
During the week of Aug. 12 after team previews are finished, we will release our predictions for the 5A and 3A football seasons, as well as our preseason selections for the top players in Northern Nevada. We will follow that up by introducing our first "Pound-for-Pound All Class Northern Nevada Power Rankings" before rounding out the week with Game Previews and Predictions as the first week of games gets under way.
Before we get started on the team previews, here are five things I'm looking forward to as the season gets underway Aug. 16th.
1. Can Bishop Manogue repeat as 5A Division-II State Champions?
Yes. For the first time since 2008 the North had a "large class" state champion in football last season. After winning the school's first state championship in 20 years, can the Miners go back-to-back this season for the first time since winning back-to-back state championships in the 3A during the 2002 and 2003 seasons? I believe that this group of Miners will be able to accomplish this feat after Coach Howren's squad brought home the first state championship of his storied career last season. This year's group of Miners has many unproven could-be stars that have been waiting patiently for their opportunity to prove they can lead this team to the promise land. They also have added a few impact transfers and a potential superstar freshman to the mix heading into this season. During my conversation with Coach Howren last month he stated "If you think we have arrived, we haven't yet, we are still trending up - see us in five years." The feeling on the Manogue campus is that the school is just getting started on their path to more state championships in the coming seasons.
2. How will coaching changes at Damonte Ranch, North Valleys, Hug, Reno and Churchill County impact those schools this season?
One thing that is inevitable after every season is coaching turnover. A large part of the significant turnover this past season saw head coaching changes at Damonte Ranch, where JJ Milan took over for Ty Gregg. Hug, where Charles Berger takes over for Anthony Davis who took over for Anthony Doucette; and Churchill County, where Calvin Connors takes over for Brooke Hill who won 115 games and two state championships while leading the Greenwave for 15 seasons. Only time will tell how these new head coaches perform in their roles, but we are excited to see them in action later this month. A few other notable coaching changes this past offseason came at North Valleys where Hank Roberts, former Galena head coach and Bishop Manogue WR's coach, has taken over the Offensive Coordinator duties at The Valleys heading into this season. That leads us to the most talked about new addition in Northern Nevada this offseason and that happens to be off Booth Street, where former Nevada QB Carson Strong has taken over the Offensive Coordinator position for the Huskies on Coach CJ Wintch's staff. Only time will tell if these additions prove fruitful for the teams noted above.
3. Can Truckee Three-Peat this season? How long can/will their win streak continue?
I know Coach Ivens is going to get on me for this one but this needs to be talked about. According to the NIAA's record book and heading into this season Truckee and Coach Ivens sit just outside the top ten for consecutive wins with 22. If Truckee can begin their season 3-0 Ivens will move into sole position for ninth place with 25 consecutive victories. I think it's very possible that he gets this accomplished. Take into account, over the course of the past two seasons Truckee football has gone 24-1 while winning Back-to-Back State Championships. In the process they have dominated teams winning 22 straight games and outscoring their opponents 900-320 over their last 25 games. They are winning games by an average of 23.8 points per game during the last two seasons and they have won the State Championship by an average of 24 points per game the last two seasons. Their dominance supersedes classes as they have beaten 5A and 3A teams in Nevada and have gone into California and defeated traditionally dominant teams over the hill. The last few seasons have proven that 'Truckee Pride' is alive and well, I don't think this train is slowing down anytime soon.
4. Can Galena take the next step and finish the job they started last season?
The Galena Grizzlies have experienced a great turnaround within their program over the last five seasons going from winless in 2021 (0-9) to playing for a State Championship last season. Can they take the next step and win a regular season league championship to go with defending their regional championship victory from last season. When I spoke with Coach Cook last month he said "for the first time since I've been here [at Galena] we have the most kids in our program. We've gone from 70 during COVID to 100 last year to over 120 this season." Success breeds buy-in and Coach Cook now has some buy-in from the Grizzlies, young and old. Coach Cook acknowledged that his squad "fell short of our ultimate goal, [but] we must defend our regional championship this season. It is a premium for us." Coach Cook continued on saying "[we] return quite a bit, it's been a good offseason for us, [with our ability] to plug and play, we are replacing quite a bit up front though." I wouldn't bet against the Grizzlies this upcoming season as they return Colson Kermode, Ben Imse, and Erick Rodriguez to name a few.
5. Can Damonte Ranch, Galena, Hug, North Valleys, Reed or Spanish Springs win their first state championship in school history now that we have multiple division's at the state's "large class"?
A repeat from last year but this question still applies. Each one of these school's listed above have won at least one team championship in their school's history. However, none of them have come in football. While I was researching for this article, I was surprised that schools like Hug and Reed had never won a state championship in their storied history because when I was in school, they were consistently near the top of the standings seemingly every season, and they've been around for quite some time. Galena, upon opening in 1992, took some of south Reno's best athletes away from football powerhouse Wooster in that part of town so it was surprising to me that they had never had sustained periods of success that resulted in a state championship over the last thirty years. The same could be said for Damonte Ranch, who had a good amount of success from 2014-2021 but was never able to turn their success into a state championship under former Coach Shawn Dupris, their great run coinciding with Bishop Gorman's dominance, before struggling their way to below .500 seasons the past two years and being the first team relegated in the new class/division systems in northern Nevada. North Valleys and Spanish Springs, both opened in 2001, have had team success in softball but have been unsuccessful in getting over the hump in the playoffs in football over their history. Will any of these teams listed above break through and win their first state championship in football this season? Only time will tell...
Last, but not least, here is the fall integration schedule for NIAA fall sports (football specific).
Jul. 29 - 30: Football heat training, helmets okay.
Jul. 31 - Aug. 2: Non-contact "shells" practice.
Aug. 3: All sports practice begins; full contact football practices begin.
Aug. 9: Schools can scrimmage each other for the first time.
Aug. 15: First day for all fall sports to begin sanctioned athletic competitions.
Aug. 16: Most 5A/3A schools play first non-league games.
That's all for now, hopefully this article has gotten your appetite ready for the coming weeks and the previews we will be putting out for Northern Nevada football.
Enjoy the season, and I'll see y'all out there!!!
J. Ray Dockter has been covering high school sports since 2022. If you have a story worth telling, let him know via Twitter @J_RayDoc.
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