FSM Essential Recap: Las Vegas High School Football - Playoffs - Week 1

FSM Essential Recap: Las Vegas High School Football – Playoffs – Week 1

www.FranchiseSportsMedia.com

 

Week 1 of the 2021 NIAA playoffs is in the books and it was filled with drama, and great action on the field. In the first week of the 702 High School football playoffs contenders started to separate themselves from the pretenders in two epic games to kickoff playoff season.

 

The game of the night once again took place at Arbor View High School where the Aggies took on the Desert Pines Jaguars. The last time they played Arbor View came back to win 22-21 in the final seconds of the game. There is no way this game could live up to that hype, could it? Not only did live up to the previous game, but it may have exceeded it.

The Jaguars defense may have played their best game of the year on Friday night. They forced the Aggies to turn the ball over on downs on their first possession of the game and Desert Pines then promptly scored to take a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

The Aggies came back down and tied the game up at 7 apiece. Arbor View’s game plan was similar to the one they had when they played earlier in the year, pound the ball and wear out DP. To the Jaguars credit, they played disciplined, tough football. They did a good job of stopping or limiting the Aggies running game.

But with just seconds remaining before the end of the first half Aggies safety Aiden Powell leaped in the air and intercepted the ball at the 1-yard line. Powell took it to the house for a 99-yard touchdown and an Arbor View 14-7 halftime lead with the huge momentum-shifting play.

The second half was more of a heavyweight fight. After an Aggies field goal to make it 17-7, the Jaguars scored a touchdown to cut the lead to 17-14. Late in the fourth quarter after the Aggies stopped the Jaguars at the 1-yard line, the DP defense made another big play. Desert Pines sacked Aggies quarterback Kyle Holmes in the endzone for a safety to make it a 1-point game with under 3 minutes in the game while getting the ball back to potentially take the lead.

Arbor View forced a turnover on downs and ran the clock out for the 17-16  Aggies win. Arbor View now advances to the NIAA regional semi-finals game against Liberty. You have to credit the Jaguars‘ play in this game in spite of coming up short. They were without their starting running back and the quarterback who started the season for them. DP played tough and may have played their most complete game of the year in the loss.

 

 

Green Valley and Foothill played another game that came down to the wire, and it ended in controversy.

 

Another game that came down to the final plays was Green Valley who hosted Foothill in a first-round Class 5A playoff game between Henderson rivals. But the outcome of the game be damned, all thoughts and prayers are going out to Gators quarterback Josiah Kiaaina.

Kiaaina was taken from the field on a gurney after being injured in the final minute. Kiaaina, who for the game competed 20 of 28 passes for 176 yards, was injured while running out of bounds and took a controversial hit.

“This is a bigger issue right now,” Gators coach Brian Castro said as emergency personnel prepared to load his quarterback into an ambulance some 20 minutes after the final gun.

There was no update on Josiah’s condition immediately following the game.

“There’s not a whole lot I can say. Hats off to those guys,” Castro said as several of his players who watched paramedics administer aid to Kiaaina broke into tears. “They played their butt off and made more plays than we did.”

Kiaaina’s replacement, Jack Stevens, drove the Gators down to the Foothill 22-yard line and spiked the ball with one second to play. But his pass to the left side of the end zone fell incomplete as Foothill advanced to a second-round matchup against top-ranked Bishop Gorman after the 27-20 win.

This is a matchup worth watching since the Falcons played the Gaels last week and just before half a person in the stands spat on a Gorman player and called him a racist word. Gorman players had to be restrained from going after him. Also, the PA announcer for the game reportedly made derogatory comments over the PA system as the Gaels called timeouts to sub in seniors who may be playing in the final game of their high school careers.

There will be no loved loss when they face off next Friday at Bishop Gorman.

Get your #702HSFootball pictures from Franchise Sports Media by going into our gallery. New photos are uploaded weekly. You can view the photos by clicking here. 

 

The Prep Rally 1st Round Scores:

 

Bishop Gorman 51 – Faith Lutheran 0

 

Liberty 57 – Legacy 6

 

Arbor View 17 – Desert Pines 16

 

Foothill 27 – Green Valley 20

 

Sierra Vista 22 – Cimarron-Memorial 8

 

Durango 21 – Desert Oasis 18

 

Clark 30 – Spring Valley 0

 

Basic 49 – Chaparral 21

 

SLAM 48 – Valley 8

 

Virgin Valley 52 – ELdorado 12

 

 

Franchise Sports Media has your 702 High School Football season covered. Make sure you tune into The FSM Prep Rally all season for your Las Vegas High School Football coverage and interact with us on all our social media platforms in the comments sections.

 

Las Vegas High School Football               Las Vegas High School Football               Las Vegas High School Football               Las Vegas High School Football               Las Vegas High School Football               Las Vegas High School Football               Las Vegas High School Football               Las Vegas High School Football               Las Vegas High School Football           Las Vegas High School Football                                 

– Franchise Sports Media

Follow The Franchise on social media

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube