Dockter: Five Big Things, Football Edition

Dockter: Five Big Things I'm Looking Forward To This High School Football Season, v1

By: J. Ray Dockter

As the calendar turns from July to August, we will kick off our previews of the Northern Nevada high school football season. I am beyond blessed to anchor our high school football coverage in the coming weeks and the year to come. With the start of high school football pre-season conditioning beginning earlier this week it means that we are just a few weeks away from the first games of the season.

I am extremely happy to be bringing these previews to you once again this season. This is my fourth consecutive season doing this, and to everyone who reads my articles over the next few weeks/months I’d like to say, “Thank You.” It is a very humble experience to be able to highlight the youth in our communities through athletics and I promise I’ll never forget my roots in this community for as long as I am able to do this. Northern Nevada/California and Lake Tahoe are my home, and I’ll always represent them accordingly. Without further ado, let’s get started.

I will preview many teams (assuming I can get in touch with all the coaches between now and then / pending coaches’ questionnaires being returned) from around the Northern 5A, 4A, 3A and possibly the 2A as well in the coming weeks. I will also have a few surprises along the way with other articles if time permits. With that brief introduction out of the way, let’s take a look at what you can expect from us over the next few weeks. Here is my tentative schedule for when those previews will be out:

August 1: Bishop Manogue

August 2: Douglas 

August 4: Reno

August 6: Reed (UPDATE) We have yet to receive our questionnaires back from coaches at Hug, and McQueen. When we receive these questionnaires back from their coaches we will put previews out for these teams.

August 7: North Valleys, Wooster (will be out next week after questionnaire is completed)

August 8: Fernley

August 11: Churchill County, Sparks

August 12: Damonte Ranch, Dayton

August 13: South Tahoe (Calif.), Spanish Springs

August 14: Truckee (Calif.)

August 15: TBD… Surprise – Stay Tuned

August 18: Carson, Galena

August 19: Elko, Lowry

August 20: Spring Creek

August 21: Incline, Pershing County

August 22: Coral Academy – Reno, North Tahoe (Calif.)

August 25: Battle Mountain, Virginia City

August 26: TBD… Surprise – Stay Tuned

August 27: TBD… Surprise – Stay Tuned

August 28: TBD… Surprise – Stay Tuned

August 29: TBD… Surprise – Stay Tuned

August 30: TBD… Surprise – Stay Tuned

NOTE: This is a tentative schedule of articles to be released.

Tentative: During the week of August 11^th after team previews are finished, we will release our predictions for the 5A, 4A, and 3A football season; as well as our preseason selections for the top players in Northern Nevada. We will follow that up by introducing our first “Pound-for-Pound All Class Northern Nevada Power Rankings” of the season before rounding out the week with Game Previews and Predictions as the first round of games gets under way. Additionally, we will release our “All 25,” returning after a brief hiatus last year – this will represent Battle Born Preps second time identifying preseason players to watch at every position.

Before we get started on the team previews, here are five things I’m looking forward to as the season gets underway on August 14^th.

1.      Realignment strikes again, who’s where? During the NIAA Board of Control meeting in January the members of the state’s governing body of interscholastic activities approved yet another set of changes to the classifications and leagues that are played in the ‘Silver State.’ The board decided to eliminate the 5A-I, II, and III and instead they will have an ‘Open’ state championship in Southern Nevada while maintaining five classes of football playing in Nevada. This latest round of realignment will run from this academic year (2025-26) through the 2027-28 academic year. The teams competing in their respective classes are as follows: Bishop Manogue, Damonte Ranch, Douglas, Galena, Reed and Spanish Springs in the 5A, rounding out the highest classification six-team league in the north. The Northern 4A will consist of Carson, Hug, McQueen, North Valleys, Reno and Wooster rounding out the next six team league in the north part of the ‘Silver State.’ The most significant change of this realignment is that it creates a four-team playoff in each league that will be different from years past where all teams “made” the playoffs and the top two regular season finishers received byes into the semi-finals each year. The Northern 3A will once again be a nine-team league with the top six finishers making the playoffs and, like years past, the top two finishers receiving byes into the semi-finals of the playoffs. My questions are simple: Have we, actually, finally! figured out a “competitive balance” in the state? Furthermore, will any of the aforementioned leagues actually be competitive from top to bottom, or will things pretty much stay the same moving forward? and lastly… will a State Champion be crowned in the 5A, 4A, or 3A this season? Only time will tell…

2.      Bishop Manogue’s dominance continues, but how long will it last? Honestly, I don’t see an end in sight for the Miners as long as Coach Howren is leading the men in ‘Green and Gold.’ Before you get fussy or tell me I am wrong please consider the following: The last time that the Miners were defeated in the regular season by a team based out of Northern Nevada was September 10, 2021; a span of over 1,400+ days by the time you read this, when they were defeated by the Robby Snelling and Ashton Hayes-led McQueen Lancers that ended up winning the Northern Regional Championship. Last year when I interviewed Howren he said, after coming off his first state championship, “We are just getting started – if you think we have arrived, we haven’t.” The Miners backed that up last season winning a second consecutive state championship over Faith Lutheran. Fellow members of the Northern 5A are probably hoping (quietly, I assume) Howren hangs his whistle up soon but I wouldn’t count on it. During our interview last year he also said to me that he “plans on coaching for another five years minimum.” Look for this team to be on a mission to complete the Three-Peat this season in a newly revamped 5A as they return starters at almost all key positions.

3.      New faces in charge, what’s new? We have three new leading men in Northern Nevada this season as this offseason saw Carson bring in Steve Nelms as its new coach replacing Ryan Boshard. Nelms is a Carson graduate that has recently been at the epicenter of Douglas turnaround for the last few years, coaching running backs and defensive backs alongside Douglas Coach Kyle Mays. Boshard was let go after leading the Senators to a 12-22 record overall while going 6-10 in league, including a 48-0 victory in the playoffs over Hug last season. The next change saw Bo Sellers leave Wooster to become Debbie Smith HS first ever Athletic Director. Sellers led the Colts to three playoff appearances in his nine years as the head man in charge while stabilizing the youth program for the Colts as well. The Colts stayed in house for their latest hire when they tabbed David Tietjen (North Valleys ’04) as the newest Wooster Colts Head Varsity Head Coach. Tietjen has been on staff at Wooster for the better part of the last decade for the Colts and was a supremely talented two-way player for the Panthers back in the day – I would know since I played alongside him. Good luck this season David, I hope you know this fellow Panther is pulling for you from afar. Lastly, the Sparks Railroaders also stayed in house this offseason as they hired James Taylor to lead the Railroaders into the future. Taylor replaces Kurt Kaufman, who resigned after going 5-25 overall over the last three seasons at Sparks. Look for Kaufman to be helping Battle Born Preps in various roles this season as he transitions out of coaching for the time being. He’ll be a great addition to our team this year. Lastly, do any of you out there have any thoughts on if any of our second-year head coaches (Calvin Connors at Churchill County, JJ Milan at Damonte Ranch, Charles Berger at Hug) make a big “Sophomore Jump” this season?

4.      The Northern 3A has some dudes that can ball!!! Don’t fool yourself big schools, the Northern 3A has some damn good talent returning this season. Be on the lookout for QBs Erick Valencia (Lowry), Ethan Kraintz (Elko), and Bryce Stephens (Fernley) to lead the way for their respective squads, but the list doesn’t end there. RBs Keeshawn Love (Fernley), Danny Taylor (Sparks), and Ivan Esparza (Truckee) all get it done on the ground. Elko and Spring Creek have some athletes that can get it done on the perimeter catching passes and getting good YAC. They are Coy Jones (Elko), Scotty Sellers (Elko), Snowdon Bear Williams (Spring Creek), and Landon Boyle (Spring Creek). The trenches are always good in the “black and blue” division that is the Northern 3A. Look for Truckee’s trio of Ryder Boyd, Miles Macosko, and Damian Herrera to be key for the Wolverines this season. LBs are always fun to watch in the 3A as well, look for Carson Melendy (Churchill County), Joey Machado (Fernley), Riley McCullar (Fernley) and Rylan Lauter (Truckee) to be among the league leaders at the end of the season. Lastly, DBs in the Northern 3A always punch above their weight class. We’ll see early in the season who will become difference makers for their teams this season. Man, I am fired up to watch these guys this season – I love 3A Football, Let’s Go!!!

5.      Will any first-time state champions emerge out of Northern Nevada this year? A favorite of mine each year is this question posed above… Damonte Ranch, Galena, Hug, North Valleys, Reed and Spanish Springs all have the same amount of State Championship trophies in their schools showcases – zero. Will this be the year that one of these schools makes history? I love the history of our region and I would be delighted to cover any of these schools hoisting the ultimate prize at the end of the year but there are many teams that will stand in their way on their quest for history. Galena’s recent run of success had them well positioned to make history each of the last two seasons but they fell one game short each of the last seasons, settling for runner-up finishes in the now disbanded 5A-III. The Grizzlies path to a state championship took a hit during the offseason when ‘The Algorithm’ placed them in the same classification as the mighty Bishop Manogue Miners for the next three seasons. In fact, four of those schools will have to go through the defending champs to make history. You know the saying “If you want to be the champ, you gotta beat the champ.” Will any of the above schools listed rise to that challenge. A rising tide raises all boats. Here’s to these schools rising up – good luck!!!

Last, but not least, below is the fall integration schedule for NIAA fall sports (football specific).

July 28 – 29: Football Heat training, helmets okay.

July 30 – August 1: Football non-contact / “shells” practices okay.

August 2: All fall sports practices can begin; full-contact football practices okay.

August 8: (Football) Schools can scrimmage each other for the first time.

August 14: First day for all fall sports to begin sanctioned athletic competitions. (Football) North Valleys plays at South Tahoe (Calif.) at 7:30 PM this evening.

August 15: (Football) Most 5A, 4A, and 3A schools play their first non-league games.

Enjoy the season, and I’ll see y’all out there!!!

J. Ray Dockter has been covering high school sports since 2022. If you have a story worth telling let him know via Twitter/X @J_RayDoc.