Nick Christensen covers high school athletics for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Seven years ago, Joel Bertsch flew to Las Vegas from the Portland, Ore., suburb of Hillsboro, looking for a teaching job and a school in need of an assistant football coach.
Bertsch, who had spent time coaching football in Japan before returning to his hometown in Oregon, was hired at Valley High School and became an assistant under coach Greg Murphy. When Murphy moved to Centennial High, so did Bertsch. And when Murphy moved to Green Valley two years ago, Bertsch was the perfect replacement.
For the first time since then, Bertsch meets his former mentor as the Gators play host to Centennial tonight.
"I learned a lot from Greg," Bertsch said. "A lot of the stuff we do is what I got from Greg."
It's not quite the 2003 Super Bowl matchup between Jon Gruden's Buccaneers and his former employer from Oakland, but the game means more for the teams than the coaches.
Centennial is a surprising 2-1, the one loss coming to a strong team in Ventura, Calif. Green Valley is an even more surprising 3-1, but was defeated soundly by Sierra Vista last week.
"(This week) is like any other game," Murphy said, "but we're real familiar with each other."
Bertsch said he hasn't emphasized with his team the battle between the two coaches.
"We're just approaching this as another game," Bertsch said, but he admitted that he'd take some pride in winning.
"It'll be fun to win this one," he said.
Spread around town
It's becoming pretty clear who's going where.
Each league gets four playoff spots, but only one deserves it.
In the Northeast, Vegas, Eldorado, Valley and Desert Pines can punch their tickets.
But how about the Southeast?
Foothill's doing its Foothill thing, Green Valley is resurgent, and Silverado's fairly strong. But does anybody believe that Basic stands a chance with A.J. Montano out for the season with a broken foot? The way Coronado has been struggling, is there enough time for a turnaround? All Liberty has to do is beat those last two, and its story will be the biggest of the year.
In the Northwest, five teams look good enough. Palo Verde has been unstoppable, Shadow Ridge has looked great, Cimarron is just getting fired up and Centennial has hung on despite the roster cuts. What about Cheyenne, a 2-0 team whose opponents are a combined 0-8?
That fifth Northwest team will probably just want to borrow a playoff spot from the Southwest. After Sierra Vista, Bishop Gorman, and Bonanza, the three remaining Southwest teams have combined for just 85. Why not just give that Northwest top seed a bye?
On another Thursday night -- Nevada Day Eve -- in five weeks, we'll know the answers. In the meantime, we launch the first Thursday of the year.
The call: Cimarron 58, Rancho 21.
The call: Western 14, Basic 0.
The call: Boulder City 48, Canyon Springs 20.
The call: Shadow Ridge 43, Chaparral 24.
The call: Coronado 28, Durango 27.
The call: Bishop Gorman 35, Desert Pines 26.
The call: Palo Verde 48, Eldorado 40.
The call: Foothill 38, Bonanza 20.
The call: Centennial 28, Green Valley 24.
The call: Las Vegas 48, Cheyenne 20.
The call: Mojave 35, Liberty 28.
The call: Moapa Valley 30, Del Sol 7.
The call: Sierra Vista 32, Silverado 25.
The call: Virgin Valley 45, Spring Valley 20.
The call: Valley 41, Clark 12.
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