Bulldog Bred, Bulldog Strong: Centennial High School Football 2020

 

Centennial High School Football 2020: Bulldog Bred, Bulldog Strong

www.franchisesportsmedia.com

 

The last football season in the Las VegasValley, was the first time in a decade the Nevada 4A state final saw two teams compete for a title, and neither side was national powerhouse Bishop Gorman.

 

After an exciting back and forth contest with Liberty High school— another southern Nevada Football powerhouse, a remarkable 30-24 overtime thriller that ended a 155 game win streak against in-state opponents, leaving Liberty who has long awaited for the day to stand over its cross-town rival, and prepare for a state title game.

 

For many, the most logical choice to face Liberty was the very talented Desert Pines Jaguars, a team that has come to be prominent in the Valley, after winning back-to-back 3A State titles. After moving up to 4A status, DP had won it’s division two years in a row and beaten reputable teams like Hamilton (AZ), Bishop Monogue, and Legacy High School.

After a 2018 Adidas premier exhibition game with Liberty that ended in a 30-17 defeat for Desert Pines–and a massive brawl that saw four players ejected, three from DP. Many thought a rematch in the championship game was all but done.

But when the dust settled, and the smoke cleared, it wasn’t the athletic Jaguar team that would stand cross-field from the Liberty Patriots, ready to play for a state title game. Instead, another more powdery blue team was seen, standing adjacent to the Patriots red and white. 

 

 

“We didn’t shock ourselves, we knew we had talent.” Coach Dustin Forshee said about his 2019 Centennial Bulldog team.

 

A team that stunned Desert Pines under a chilly Saturday afternoon sun at Eldorado High school. Defeating the heavily favored Jaguar team 20-7, stamping their golden ticket to the 4A State title game. Even though this game marked a significant achievement for the Centennial Bulldog program, winning it’s first-ever Regional Championship to appear in their first-ever state title game. Centennial’s season was filled with many more great achievements for the team that was a decade in the making.

After the resignation of longtime head coach Leon Evans, who took over a mediocre program and transformed it into one of the city’s most respected programs; bringing the team to their first region Championship game ever in 2013, and putting out Centennial’s first D1 Recruits with Savon Scarver and Jamaal Evans. Dustin Forshee was introduced as the next man to lead the Rebuilding program into the future.

“That first year, I was trying to figure it out,” Forshee told Franchise. “After a 2017 campaign that saw Centennial go 1-9 losing, 4th quarter. “That year we just lost a lot of close games,” Forshee said.

 

The following year Coach Forshee and his staff tightened their approach to the season.

 

 

With a full staff,  a more organized and focused plan of attack. Centennial improved its record from a one-win team, to a seven-win team in just one year. Making the playoffs, but after losing in the first round to another incredibly talented Desert Pines team 28-7, Centennial had higher expectations for the next coming season.

Going into the 2019 season, the entire Centennial community was excited to see what the coming year would bring. Although they had players like two-way star Gerick Robinson, All-state Running back Jordan Smith, and Quarterback Colton Tenney. Nobody expected to see Centennial defeat longtime rival Arbor View high school–the defending region champs who had not lost to Centennial in the regular season in over 12 years– 17-14 on their Homecoming.

Winning the division and continue their march to the Region championship match, there waiting for them was a more athletic and bigger DP team. Sporting a National prospect is 6’8 230lb Tight End Darnell Washington, who had dominated the Valley for the last two seasons. But like the Bulldogs had done all season, they persevered and defeated DP to move on.

Unfortunately, the state game did not go as well as the rest of the season,  on a losing effort  51-7 to Liberty.

 

“We were more excited about getting to the (state title) game than winning it.” Coach Alec Williams told Franchise Sports.

 

Williams, one of the longest-tenured coaches in the Centennial program today, staying on board from the era of Leon Evans. Coach Williams told Franchise that the 2019 Centennial Bulldogs wasn’t one of the most athletic teams he had been a part of at Centennial. However, the team was one of the most well-coached teams he had been a part of and had some of the most coachable players he had ever seen come through the program. But when it came to the State title game, in the words of Coach Forshee “We were kind of shell-shocked after winning the region title game and lost sight of the goal a little bit.” 

Although the team didn’t accomplish the ultimate goal of winning a championship, Centennials’ 2019 campaign made everybody in the Las Vegas Valley pay attention to the powder blue team in the north. It also gave real hope to the Bulldog faithful that have waited a very long time to see their Bulldogs make some noise in the Valley.

 

“There’s a lot of excitement and enthusiasm (in the community) for the upcoming season,” Coach Williams said. A sentiment Head coach Dustin Forshee shared, but thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of speculation and uncertainty now surrounds the 2020 football season.

 

 

Following the program’s most historic season, which propelled the program into the main stage of high school football in the State of Nevada. Centennial’s staff has continued to prepare to ‘finish the job’ by holding online video meetings with players. Checking in with them and making sure their players are staying healthy and in shape for the possibility of the fall season.

Now that they have a big target on their back as the new 5A league has officially been formed, we asked Coach Forshee how they could repeat their State-run going into the season.

 

 

Coach Forshee said, “The same way we got it done, we’re going to put in the work.”

 

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-Jaron Turner – Franchise Sports Media

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