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Wolf Pack football team lands 13 on Phil Steele’s All-Mountain West squad

Thirteen Nevada football players were named to the All-Mountain West team by Phil Steele’s College Football Magazine this week. Nevada landed four players on the first team in quarterback Carson Strong, wide receiver Romeo Doubs, tight end Cole Turner and kicker Brandon Talton.

Nevada loses at the buzzer

Nevada fought back to tie Saturday night’s series finale at San Diego State twice in the final minute, but the Wolf Pack was done in by Trey Pulliam’s buzzer beater in a 69-67 defeat.

Wolf Pack football team lands 13 on Phil Steele’s All-Mountain West squad

Thirteen Nevada football players were named to the All-Mountain West team by Phil Steele’s College Football Magazine this week. Nevada landed four players on the first team in quarterback Carson Strong, wide receiver Romeo Doubs, tight end Cole Turner and kicker Brandon Talton.

NIAA/Snap Mask Sports partner to aid Nevada’s high school student-athletes

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA), the non-profit governing body of high school athletics in the Silver State, and Snap Mask Sports (SMS) have jointly announced a partnership. Snap Mask Sports is the leader in custom face masks that can be worn safely during practice and competition for all sports. The NIAA joins the state associations of Louisiana, New Mexico, Washington, and Oregon as the latest to partner with Snap Mask Sports.

Open gyms, conditioning open up as high schools wait for answers to play

High school basketball and wrestling teams began the small steps to returning to play this winter this past week, as non-contact conditioning was allowed to take place. Even though that part of the comeback has started, it is not known if there will be a basketball or wrestling season this school year.

Pershing County volleyball hopeful for new season

Each volleyball season, Pershing County High School coach Monica Halverson comes up with a new motto for her team.  This season’s theme is, “Together: small in numbers, but mighty in play and focus.”  Over the years, coaches like Halverson, Shauna Bake and Lisa Clark have challenged the Mustangs to outplay competitors from larger schools.  As a result, the girls play hard and are fun to watch.

From Kobe to Maradona, a year of staggering losses in sports

There were so many in 2020. Sports in 2020 was an unending state of mourning. It was as if every week, sometimes days, another luminary fell, bringing a cascade of condolence and remembrance. It began New Year’s Day, a harbinger of what the year held, with the deaths of David Stern and Don Larsen.  Not long after came a seismic jolt, the helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant in the fog-shrouded California hills that reverberated across sports and across continents.

Welcome to the postseason, Cleveland. Cleveland? Yep

Welcome to the postseason, Cleveland. Cleveland? The Browns ended their string of non-playoff seasons on Sunday with a tighter-than-expected 24-22 victory over archrival Pittsburgh, which sat many of its starters. Cleveland returned to the NFL in 1999, made the playoffs in 2002, and then, zilch. Until now. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “But we’re not satisfied. We expected to be here.” The NFL’s two longest playoff droughts have been snapped with the advancements of Tampa Bay and Cleveland, both 11-5. The Buccaneers, who downed Atlanta 44-27, already were in and secured the fifth seed in the NFC, setting up a visit to the sub-.500 NFC East winner, Washington (7-9). Tampa Bay’s last trip to the postseason was 2007.

Pershing County Mustangs keep on keeping on

Navigating high school amid the pandemic is a workout as intense as anything a coach can dish out. Pershing County’s student athletes are currently playing a waiting game, not sure when sports will resume or what they will look like when they do.  However, Pershing County  coaches haven’t stopped coaching. Lee Houston and Jesse Canchola hold scrimageless basketball practices in the open gym after school.

NFL playoff field: powerhouses, pretenders and a 7-9 team

From the rested in Kansas City and Pittsburgh to the relieved in Cleveland, Chicago and Los Angeles, the field for the Super Bowl chase is set. There are some powerhouses and some pretenders — and a team with a losing record. The reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs (14-2) and Green Bay (13-3) earned each conference’s lone bye in the expanded playoffs.  And no, adding a third wild-card entrant is not why a 7-9 club will be playing next weekend. Washington “earned” that spot by winning the abysmal NFC East that displayed in the finale of the regular season why NFC Least has been so appropriate a moniker. So while New York Giants fans scream that Eagles coach Doug Pederson didn’t truly play to beat Washington on Sunday night, it should emphasized that the Giants went 6-10, a record more in line with relegation than reward.

Six years later, Alabama and Ohio State go at it again

When Ohio State upset Alabama in the semifinals of the first College Football Playoff on the way to the Buckeyes’ last national title, it seemed like the start of budding postseason rivalry between the two traditional powers. Instead, Clemson became the Crimson Tide’s nemesis and the biggest challenger to Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty over the next five years. Six years later, Ohio State and Alabama meet again, the Tide still rolling and the Buckeyes again looking for an upset. After the SEC champion Crimson Tide rolled past Notre Dame 31-14 in a Rose Bowl played deep in the heart of Texas, the No. 3 Buckeyes of the Big Ten beat Clemson 49-28 in the other CFP semifinal at the Sugar Bowl on Friday night behind Justin Fields’ six touchdown passes. How Fields is feeling will be the main story line heading into the title game. He took a hard short to the side in the second quarter against Clemson, but managed to play through the pain.

Shanahan ‘believes’ Garoppolo will be 49ers quarterback in 2021

Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t expected to take another snap this season for the San Francisco 49ers as a pair of high ankle sprains derailed most of his campaign. Despite the lost season, the 49ers remain publicly committed to Garoppolo as their quarterback for 2021, even tough he has remained healthy only once in three seasons as starter.

High school sports has restarted - sort of

The winter sports season was scheduled to begin with practices and tryouts allowed to begin on Jan. 2,  and contests permitted as early as Jan. 14.  Indeed, regular practices and try-outs for the winter season sports of skiing and flag football were permitted to begin this Saturday with competitions to follow as scheduled. These practices and competitions are to be in compliance with the guidance issued for these sports. However, per Emergency Directive 034 issued by Governor Sisolak on Oct. 2, 2020, neither unmodified practice nor competition in the winter season sports of basketball or wrestling are permitted. 

Amid anguish of pandemic, sports offered memorable moments

Sarah Fuller was a goalie on the Vanderbilt women’s soccer team when a chance at history tapped her on the shoulder. The Commodores football team was down a kicker because of COVID-19 issues, so coach Derek Mason reached out to soccer coach Darren Ambrose to see if Fuller might be a good option. Turns out she was.

Pershing County athletes looking to rise to the occasion

Whatever the New Year brings sports-wise, PCHS athletes will rise to the occasion. Thanks to their coaches, they’ve had plenty of opportunities to train. Now, it’s a waiting game. Typically, Pershing athletes stay in shape through competing. Unlike larger school districts, Lovelock does not have clubs or training facilities. That’s why, at PCHS, the coaches expect everyone to play two or three sports, not just one. In the fall, they may play football, soccer or volleyball. Next, come the winter sports – basketball and wrestling. Finally, baseball, softball and track follow in the spring.