4 A Football Semi Final Preview

The State 4 A Semi Finals feature 3 teams with outstanding running games and one who throws the football. McQueen hosts Foothill at 1 PM on Saturday. In Las Vegas, Durango tries to continue their tough defensive play as they take on Antoine White and the Las Vegas Wildcats. Hope you are ready to go! Here is the breakdown for these matchups.

We have waited all year long to determine the final 4 football teams that would compete for the 4 A State Title. Here is a look at the match ups this weekend.

Durango vs Las Vegas 7 PM Saturday – The best in the Sunrise meets the once beaten Sunset Champion Blazers. Say what you want about the Wildcats, they have found ways to win the big games all year long. They feature the top running back in the South this season, Antoine White. In a loaded year of running backs, White found ways to get through small holes up the middle and expose the corner on sweep plays. He is very much a clone of former ASU and now New England Patriot running back JR Redmond. He has tremendous hip movement, making him very difficult to tackle head on. If he gets the corner, he has the explosive speed to take it the distance.

Las Vegas on offense has been all about White and the running game. His stats are impressive with 2484 yards on the ground on 207 attempts, averaging 207 yards per game! He was the leading scoring man in the South with 43 touchdowns! Michael Perkins and Greg Scroggins back him up and average well under 20 yards per game. Looking at the QB position, Steve Creech has improved each week. He is now making running plays in the option and has been efficient passing the football down field to Cory Williams and Andrew Ladua. Both have grabbed 80 catches, with Williams as the primary game breaker with 7 touchdowns. Creech is 80 for 207 for 1261 and 10 touchdowns. He is small in stature, but no one has been able to get through an effective offensive line to knock the ball down.

Special teams has also been a strong point of the Wildcats game with White and Diggs returning kicks and Evan Ellsworth effective kicking the football with a long of 47 yards 7-14 for the season. He has only missed 2 extra points. Kickoffs are not long and run backs are a problem.

Defensively the Wildcats get it done with steady play from their front 7. Linebackers Rusty Hale and Chad Pool get it done leading the team in tackles. Pool is key with 102 tackles on the season. Up front Mustafa Barnes Cruz has been a stud with 73 tacklets. Ellsworth also has been steady with 58 tackles for the Cats. They have been worked on with big running teams like Foothill last week. They also have shown a weakness against the pass, the problem for their opponents has been getting rid of the football from their pass rush to attack their secondary.

Las Vegas enjoys a solid home field advantage and will have a full house this week. They hope to reach their first title game in football in many years.

Durango is the biggest team in Nevada, but has suffered some key injuries in getting through the season. Luke Doty, their D1 line man and Defensive Tackle has a fractured foot and is questionable. Jon Jimenez their stud Line backer is also hurt with a leg injury and will not play. Even QB Robbie Martinez was banged up last week in the 4^th quarter in the Cheyenne game.

Martinez gets the benefit of standing behind a great offensive line that is an average 6’2 265 pounds. They average 284 yards per game on offense and have not been pressed to do much more than that this season. Martinez has only thrown 70 times and completed just 32 of those passes for 5 touchdowns and 464 yards. Three yards and a could of dust is how the Blazers like to get it done. Corey McCants has stepped up this year with 1408 yards on 235 attempts/ 11 touchdowns. He is more of a East/West Running Back than his backup Ahmad Atkins who has run for 750 yards and 15 touchdowns. Atkins gets it done, he hits the hole better than McCants and is called on when the offense staggers. When you key on the tailback, fullback Allen McIntyre gets it done with 301 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jonathon Phillips is the main target downfield at 6’3 with an average of 17 yards per catch from his tight end spot.

Fred Coleman has won two games during the playoffs with his kicking. His punts have averaged 40 yards a kick and field goal wise he has the leg for long distance hitting a 44 yarder this year. Atkins and Whigham return kicks the Blazers as they win field position battles with their opponents. Last week Cheyenne put pressure on Coleman and this showed cracks in the protection of Coleman.

Defense has been the strong suit of the Blazers only giving up 10 points per game with two shutouts in the playoffs. Bill Amidon from his Middle Linebacker spots makes plays on defense. The big front from the offensive line goes both ways and they provide pressure on the opponents offensive line. They have a weakness in the passing game as they can be beat by quicker athletes on the corner. Clark exposed them during their win as did Cheyenne last week in their loss. If you are going to just run the ball against them it means trouble as they are too good up front. Passing the football against them is where you find openings.

Cory Williams is my key to the game for Las Vegas. He needs to get the football to him downfield to pull the rush off White running the ball. Durango needs a big game from Atkins as Las Vegas pursues the football well. Las Vegas’ ability to pass the football stands as the advantage over Durango in a game where both teams are even.

Foothill vs McQueen – 1 PM Saturday

When you look at McQueen you see a couple of new wrinkles. No more running of the football and passing when necessary offense. QB Jeff Rowe has been awesome stepping in for the graduated Graham Siderius. They have not been able to get a consistent running game during the season. Borco has been the best of their bunch, scoring the game winner last week in OT at Elko. The loss of JJ Myatt on offense and defense has been a major blow.

Special teams have been average during the season.

Defensively the Lancers know how to turn it on. Last week they focused on stopping Kyle Eklund of Elko and they got him for under 70 yards on the ground. They can be very physical and they come out with a great focus. They have been able to stop everyone for the exception of Elko on offense during the season. They are not the same dominating defense of last year or even the previous year.

Foothill has big John ford and he has put up a monster effort during the playoffs. Last week, a late fumble by Nate Weiderquist gave Las Vegas the game. Weiderquist is key to the Foothill attack as he has the skills to get open and is smart enough to know what has to be gained on each play. If you key on Ford, look then for Joe Spillotros to carry the football for gains on mis direction. Daneshforooz can be a steady QB when he has time and Lorenzo White can run fly routes down the sideline to give teams problems. The big line with Lethbridge leading the way makes it tough for defenders to get to Ford or the QB. They will even line him up on short yardage creating major size problems for defenses.

On defense, Foothill has shown little pass rush and has given up the big play. Johnson and White has field days against them in playoff shootouts. They have a tendencies to let up and not finish teams off. Much of this comes from a lack of big game experience. Their top player, Mike Jones has not been active enough on defense against the run and needs to step up his game. They could step up against the passing game if they rush the passer.

Special teams are decent. Ford’s kickoffs normally head out of the end zone. Geary has been steady kicking the football, but has not been asked to make the big kick yet. Punting the football is also average. Ford, White and Weiderquist step up returning the football.

McQueen has home field advantage that is huge and Foothill has not been this far in the playoffs before. Experience says a lot for McQueen as they can be intimidating. Foothill needs to overcome this fact right away. Ford needs to carry the load that Steven Jackson could not do last year for Eldorado. If the Lancers can run the football well, it could be a long day. Rowe has become a D1 QB and could also have a field day. You need to wonder about McQueen coming in flat after winning an exhausting game at Elko last week. Plenty of emotion was spent on this win. Foothill looks like a team that is a play away of being very dangerous as they should have closed out Las Vegas last week in a game that many did not think they had a chance of winning.