The new-look high school football season for the 30 independent Clark County School District programs will take shape this week.
After breaking away from the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association in March, many of the 30 independent teams begin their version of league play Thursday. All high school football games involving CCSD teams will be played on Thursday this week because of the Rosh Hashanah holiday.
As independent teams, the 30 schools cannot play for a NIAA-sanctioned state title, participate in any form of playoff or compete for a championship. But creative minds have come together to create a structure that will lead the schools to compete for the Superintendents Cup at the end of October.
The 30 teams are split into three Divisions based on competitive balance. There are two five-team leagues in each division based on geography. The top two teams in each league, based on the league standings, will compete in “crossover games” that act as semifinals for the Superintendent Cup title in each of the three divisions.
“I’m excited for the overall enthusiasm that’s out there for what we’re doing,” said Liberty coach Rich Muraco, whose Patriots are No. 2 in the Review-Journal’s Southern Nevada rankings and play at Desert Oasis at 6 p.m. Thursday as both teams begin Division I East League play.
“It’s great. It’s brought a lot of energy to everybody’s programs. It should be fun. These next few weeks, every game is going to be important.”
Division I West battle
No. 5 Arbor View and No. 4 Centennial will waste no time in determining who will be the top team in the Division I West League. The northwest rivals meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at Arbor View.
Centennial coach DJ Campbell isn’t downplaying the importance of the game, saying there’s a “different feel” in the preparation for the Aggies.
“If anybody tells you that it’s just a normal game, they’re not telling the truth,” Campbell said. “Everybody gets up for their rivalry game, it’s the first game of conference play, it’s going to be a very big game.”
Centennial, which won state titles in 2023 (4A) and 2024 (5A Division III), is looking to supplant Arbor View as the top local team in Southern Nevada. The Aggies are 0-3 — with all losses coming to out-of-state teams — and played Bishop Gorman in the state title game in each of the last two seasons in the top classification.
Centennial (2-2) lost last week to Perry (Arizona) 55-14, but Campbell said he is optimistic the Bulldogs defense will overcome its mistakes in the nonleague portion of its schedule.
“Our offense has jelled together a little bit better than we thought they were going to, especially with having a new quarterback (three-star senior Blake Nadler),” Campbell said. “Defensively, I know that we’ve given up points the last few games. However, I’m optimistic about the fact that the things that we failed at or didn’t do well can be fixed.”
Arbor View and Centennial appear to be the early favorites to be the top two teams in the West League. Shadow Ridge and Desert Pines have strong teams and will look to challenge for one of the top two spots.
Patriots lead Division I East
Liberty (1-2) appears to be the leading favorite in the Division I East League. Even as an independent, the Patriots still played top out-of-state teams, which included close losses to Mililani (Hawaii) 34-24 and Skyridge (Utah) 24-20 last week.
“We kind of accomplished what I wanted to see by playing those hard teams,” Muraco said. “We exposed some things that we need to work on and also taught the kids some lessons on how close games can be when you make a mistake or don’t execute.”
Much of Liberty’s team is similar to last year’s team that lost to Arbor View in the Open Division state semifinals – BYU commit RB Ezra Sanelivi, eight returning starters on defense and four seniors on the offensive line.
But the biggest change is at quarterback, with Madden Dela Cruz taking over the position. After a strong junior year last season, Muraco made the decision to move Selby Griego from quarterback to other positions on the field. Griego has played at wide receiver, defensive back, kick returner and gotten some snaps at quarterback.
“He’s such a great athlete, we really needed him to be more of a bigger part of the team than just as the quarterback,” Muraco said. “He’s done everything for us and it’s been great. He’s been awesome with this and his attitude and desire to want to help the team win.”
Coronado and Foothill will vie for the other spot in the East League for the top crossover games to contend for the Division I Superintendents Cup.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
CCSD football independent breakdown
Division I
■ East: Liberty, Desert Oasis, Coronado, Foothill, Las Vegas
■ West: Arbor View, Centennial, Shadow Ridge, Mojave, Desert Pines
Division II
■ East: Basic, Canyon Springs, Durango, Silverado, Palo Verde
■ West: Clark, Green Valley, Sierra Vista, Legacy, Spring Valley
Division III
■ East: Eldorado, Del Sol, Sunrise Mountain, Chaparral, Valley
■ West: Cheyenne, Cimarron-Memorial, Bonanza, Western, Rancho
