Nevada Appeal: Senators smash North Valleys for early 4A lead

RENO — As far as debuts go, Carson High football fans couldn’t have asked for much more from their Senators on Thursday night.

Playing in the first game for the Northern Region’s new 4A class, Carson dominated in all three phases — and probably some phases that aren’t even known yet — on the way to a 45-0 demolition of North Valleys.

The easy Thursday win made the Senators (2-3 overall, 1-0 league) the early leaders in the 4A, at least for 24 hours. North Valleys, which never seriously threatened the Carson end zone, dropped to 0-6, 0-1.

“Honestly, I’m proud of the ‘team phase,’” Carson head coach Steven Nelms said. “There’s not a phase that’s more important than the others; it’s three phases (offense, defense, special teams) to win a football game. I thought we played our first complete football game … that was really exciting to see.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

Maybe Carson was a bit tentative on its opening drive — or maybe those few plays turned out to be North Valleys’ high point. Whatever the case, the Senators’ punt to end the short drive was one of the team’s few lowlights.

The Senators got going on their next opportunity, with Riley Loff hitting Zack Eaton for a short touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead.

After taking that lead into the second quarter, Carson put the game away. The Senators scored on all four of their second-quarter possessions, three of which were ended by Johnathan Alvarado touchdown runs, to lead 32-0 at the half.

On the other side of the ball, the Carson defense ended the Panthers’ first-half drives with two interceptions, two punts, and two fourth-down stops.

KEY SEQUENCE

After the Senators’ defense got a stop on a 4th-and-1 play, Carson’s Justin Gonzalez capped the ensuing drive by sprinting 15 yards to the left corner of the end zone for a 20-0 lead with 7:02 left in the second quarter.

With Carson dominating along both lines and recording all the game’s big plays, that gap was more than enough to clinch the game.

QUOTABLE

“Every week we want to be 1-0, just like every other team that’s here. But to start league off early (and) 1-0 … we get a long week now; we’ve got homecoming next week; it’s exciting; it’s just a great way to start league.”
— Nelms

Photo and Article: Duke Ritenhouse