There are still two weeks before the first day of school for Clark County School District students, but Monday felt similar to the start of classes as high school football teams around Southern Nevada officially began fall practices.
The day marked the beginning of an important week of preparation for teams with the season quickly approaching.
Teams began heat acclimation practices in helmets and will transition to non-contact practices in shells beginning Wednesday. Saturday marks the first day of full-contact practices in full pads and the first scrimmages are Aug. 6.
“I’ve been very intentional this offseason about the structure and how everything is done,” Centennial coach D.J. Campbell said. “We have less time, we even have less games because of us going independent, so everything has been intentional about making sure we’re on time and efficient.”
The new high school football season begins Aug. 14 for most Southern Nevada teams. For the 30 Clark County School District teams that moved to independent status in March, their seasons will end on Oct. 23 with no postseason for an NIAA state title.
On Monday, the high temperature reached 109 degrees and breezy conditions were prevalent throughout the valley as teams maximized the amount of time they have on the field while battling the heat.
“We’re really excited,” said Faith Lutheran coach Jay Staggs, whose team will still be in the NIAA. “It’s going to be a marathon. We know where this thing’s leading, and it’s going to be an 1-0 mentality. We got to stay entrenched on us versus us through training camp.”
Many teams practiced later in the afternoon and evening to limit time in the heat and avoid high sun exposure during an extreme heat warning. The hot weather will linger into the start of the season, with triple-digit temperatures expected for the start of games in August and early September.
“We tried to treat summer workouts — and the kids do a great job of this, too — but treating it like a game,” Sloan Canyon coach Nate Oishi said. “The level of intensity and the amount of work we put in. … we try to get it as close to the game as possible, so they’re in the best shape possible.”
‘Lights a fire’
The new season will look different for the 30 CCSD schools that moved their teams to independent status for the upcoming two seasons beginning this fall. The never-before-seen decision came after an eventful realignment process where Bishop Gorman threatened to sue the NIAA and CCSD principals voiced their displeasure with NIAA leadership and the controversial HRM system.
The 30 teams can play a maximum of 10 games and are not eligible to play for a state championship. Schools have been placed in groups based on geography and competitive balance.
All CCSD teams have a pair of blank to-be-determined opponents at the end of their schedules, which represent “crossover games” between teams in different groups to serve as a postseason. The top two teams in a group will play the top two teams in a corresponding group, with the winners facing off in the season finale on Oct. 23.
“We’re looking forward to it and we’ve done a good job over the last few years of embracing anybody and everybody who we put on our schedule,” Campbell said. “It’s business as usual, but knowing that there is an exact end date, that being Oct. 23, kind of lights a fire under the boys.
“The fact that we know when the end date is, we know that we really have limited time and it kind of puts things into perspective about taking advantage of every opportunity.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
