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Highlights from Week 8 of high school football

Here’s a look at what happened during Week 8 of the high school football season.

WHAT WE LEARNED

1. How the mighty have fallen. Some of the programs once considered the area’s elite won’t be playing in the postseason. Palo Verde, which was the last Nevada school to beat Bishop Gorman, dropped to 0-6 after a 28-7 loss to Arbor View, and the Panthers look like they’ll snap a streak of 16 consecutive playoff appearances.

Centennial, which was still ranked in the area’s top 10 by the coaches until this week, fell to 2-5 with a 61-46 loss to Shadow Ridge. The Bulldogs look like they’ll miss the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

Same story at Green Valley, where the Gators fell to 3-4, and more importantly, 0-3 in the Southeast League with a 35-7 loss to Basic. The Gators have made the playoffs the last five seasons.

2. Virgin Valley might be a title contender in Class 3A. The Bulldogs improved to 7-1 and clinched the Sunrise League’s top playoff seed with a 13-7 win over Chaparral. Desert Pines remains the favorite to win the state title, but the Jaguars haven’t exactly been blowing away the competition (see Friday’s 27-20 win over 3-5 Sunrise Mountain).

Of course Spring Creek figures to have a say in things as well. The Spartans moved to 8-0 after a 42-36 road win over Churchill County on Friday.

3. The spread offense may be en vogue, but there are some teams riding bruising running games. Just take a look at some of the carry totals from Friday.

Laughlin’s Coda Abatti carried the ball 47 times, gaining 278 yards in a 26-8 win over Mountain View. And it’s not just at the Class 2A level.

Virgin Valley’s Jayden Perkins logged 37 carries in the Bulldogs’ win over Chaparral, and leads the area with 198 rushes this season.

Shadow Ridge’s Malik Lindsey had 32 carries in the team’s win over Centennial, and Isaiah Morris had 31 rushes in Desert Pines’ win over Sunrise Mountain. Cimarron-Memorial’s Tyree Riley carried the ball 35 times in a loss to Faith Lutheran, and Legacy’s Samuel Turner has regularly topped 30 carries this season.

Of course, none of those backs are likely to catch former Silverado running back Alex Cater. Cater had 398 carries in 10 games as a senior in 2012.

UPSET OF THE WEEK

Shadow Ridge 61, Centennial 46 — Centennial came in with a 2-4 record, so this wasn’t really a shock. But the idea of Shadow Ridge scoring 61 points and beating Centennial before the season would have been laughable.

The Mustangs were 1-9 last season, and lost 47-18 against the Bulldogs. But Shadow Ridge’s running game has proven to be nearly impossible to stop. The Mustangs racked up 486 yards on the ground on Friday, and only attempted one pass (it was incomplete). The ground game was good enough to give Shadow Ridge its first win over Centennial in 11 years.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES

Passing

Jamaal Evans, Centennial — 13-25 passing, 334 yards, 4 TDs

Kenyon Oblad, Liberty — 18-29 passing, 296 yards, TD

Aaron McAllister, Basic — 10-24 passing, 242 yards, 3 TDs

Sagan Gronauer, Faith Lutheran — 14-22 passing, 232 yards, 3 TDs

K.C. Moore, Spring Valley — 18-48 passing, 227 yards, TD

Rushing

Tyree Riley, Cimarron-Memorial — 35 carries, 305 yards, 2 TDs

Coda Abatti, Laughlin — 47 carries, 278 yards, 4 TDs

Malik Lindsey, Shadow Ridge — 32 carries, 274 yards, 4 TDs

Isaiah Morris, Desert Pines — 31 carries, 273 yards, 2 TDs

Jacob Leavitt, Moapa Valley — 13 carries, 245 yards, 3 TDs

Receiving

Elijah Kothe, Faith Lutheran — 9 catches, 151 yards, 2 TDs

Savon Scarver, Centennial — 4 catches, 141 yards, 2 TDs

Isiah Johnson, Mountain View — 8 catches, 132 yards, TD

Dayton Wolfley, Moapa Valley — 3 catches, 127 yards, 2 TDs

DeShawn Eagles, Basic — 3 catches, 117 yards, TD

QUOTABLE

“They were well disciplined. They bracketed our receivers and played us hard on the edge. We started slow, got back into it, and shot ourselves in the foot again. Against a team like that, you can’t do that because they got the ball in position and working the clock.”

— Chaparral coach Paul Nihipali following his team’s 13-7 loss to Virgin Valley.

“This is a huge win for our program. Who would’ve thought we would score 61? That’s crazy. I’m just happy for our kids, they deserve that.”

— Shadow Ridge coach Travis Foster after his team’s 61-46 victory over Centennial, for the team’s first win over the Bulldogs in 11 years.

“As a coach, I kind of hate this week. Kids are worrying about having to get their hair cut and they have to get their tux and all that kind of stuff. They are high school kids, and it’s hard to stay up every week.”

— Liberty coach Rich Muraco after his team’s sloppy 35-6 homecoming win over Coronado.

“It’s never easy for us. We make things tougher for us because of mistakes and penalties. However, it’s great to have No. 7 (Isaiah Morris) in the backfield.”

— Desert Pines coach Tico Rodriguez after Morris rushed for 273 yards in the team’s 27-20 win over Sunrise Mountain.

“Our young quarterback was able to open up and get the ball to R.J. (McCarter), who is probably one of the best receivers in town. But it is Bonanza, and when you lose all the time, nobody respects the players that are out there, but they finally got it.”

— Bonanza coach Dion Lee after Cannon Reid hit McCarter with a 35-yard TD pass with 4:55 left to give the Bengals a 20-14 win over Spring Valley.

“I feel like we are making history since it has been so long since we made the playoffs. It has just been great to get some wins. This year, we seem to be more like a family instead of a football team. We hang out together even after practice.”

— Valley senior Iyen Medlock after the Vikings beat Rancho 44-8 to move closer to earning the school’s first playoff berth since 2011.

HOW THEY FARED

A look at how the top 10 teams in the Southern Nevada Football Coaches Poll fared in Week 8.

1. Bishop Gorman (8-0) beat Clark, 58-0. Next: at Desert Oasis, Friday.

2. Liberty (6-1) beat Coronado, 35-6. Next: vs. No. 7 Silverado, Friday.

3. Arbor View (6-1) beat Palo Verde, 28-7. Next: at No. 8 Legacy, Thursday.

4. Canyon Springs (6-1) was idle. Next: vs. Eldorado, Friday.

5. Basic (6-1) beat Green Valley, 35-7. Next: at Foothill, Friday.

6. Desert Pines (7-1) beat Sunrise Mountain, 27-20. Next: vs. Western, Friday.

7. Silverado (6-1) beat Foothill, 41-7. Next: at Liberty, Friday.

8. Legacy (5-1) was idle. Next: vs. No. 3 Arbor View, Thursday.

9. Faith Lutheran (4-3) beat Cimarron-Memorial, 57-20. Next: vs. Shadow Ridge, Friday.

10. Sierra Vista (7-0) beat Desert Oasis, 14-7. Next: at Durango, Friday.

For complete coverage of all of the games from Week 8, visit nevadapreps.com.

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