HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: No nights off under new Northern 4A realignment, coaches say

For the second time in three years, the Northern 4A region of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association has undergone a bit of a facelift.

And, for the second time in three years, the changes will set up Douglas and Carson in heavily-competitive leagues across the board.

In 2008, the Northern 4A divided the High Desert and Sierra Leagues into geographical groupings, essentially pushing all of the southern-most schools into the Sierra while the schools further North on the map went into the High Desert.

The weight of the regional power went to the High Desert in football, girls' basketball and softball while the Sierra took the overall advantage in soccer, volleyball, baseball and wrestling.

Last spring, the NIAA announced realignment across all classes that would drop South Tahoe, Elko and Fallon to the 3A in all sports while Wooster would play as an independent in football and Hug would remain a non-participant in baseball.

The result, in most sports, doesn't change the competitive balance. However, several sports will see a drastic increase in the overall difficulty of the schedule as the larger Northern Nevada schools settle into the new 12-team division.

Here is a rundown of the major changes for the fall sports heading into the year:

FOOTBALL

Perhaps no sport will be more changed, or the balance of power more spread out, than in Northern 4A football this year.

The four departing teams (Fallon, Elko, Wooster and South Tahoe) went a combined 15-60 over the past two seasons while none of the four have posted a winning record in at least the past four years.

None have made the playoffs in the last six years and the last time any of the four, outside of Wooster, won a league or division title was in 1991 (South Tahoe).

The High Desert and the Sierra leagues essentially become a thing of the past as all 11 teams will play in the Northern 4A league for eight spots in the playoffs.

Every remaining team in the league has made a playoff appearance in the last two years and seven of the 11 have won a league title in the last five years. Six of the 11 have won a regional crown in the last eight years.

Needless to say, parity is the word.

"You're going to be challenged every week," Douglas coach Mike Rippee said. "There's not a week that will go by that won't be absolutely crucial to your overall success during the season. The depth of your roster and injuries you face will play a huge role in terms of who advances in the playoffs.

"You never want your kids looking ahead, but you have to be honest, when it came to a South Tahoe or a Wooster on the schedule and you had a Carson or a McQueen the following week, the kids would do it anyway. There were just teams in this league that could not compete. You knew going in that there would be an opportunity to rest some kids or if you had kids hurt, it wasn't a bad time to get well as a team."

Carson football coach Blair Roman agreed.

"The No. 1 thing is the competitiveness of the league," Roman said. "I think this league is going to be as wide open as it's ever been."

Eight teams in the playoff? That sounds a bit much. The coaches' association fought hard for it, and at least for two years it will be in place.

"I want to see how that is going to play out," Roman said. "One of the biggest factors is that these players put in a ton of time in the off-season.

"I know there is going to be one or maybe two teams with losing records that get into the playoffs. The difference, they are going to be good teams."

VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball, as with every other team sport except for baseball, kept the two-league system with the High Desert and Sierra each keeping their remaining six-team groupings.

The major change, as with the other team sports, is in the scheduling. Teams will play each team within the league twice (home and away) and each team from the other league once (site rotated yearly). The catch is that volleyball, soccer, basketball and softball have adopted the pro sports model to standings in that every league and crossover game counts toward determining who goes to the playoffs. In the past, only league games have counted, much like the college conference model.

With every game counting, the stakes are higher.

"Our side (the Sierra) has been the more competitive side since the first realignment," Douglas coach Suzi Townsell said. "We got Manogue, Galena and Fallon out of the deal and kept tough games like Damonte and Carson. Now all we lose is Fallon and South Tahoe and the crossover games all count.

"Every night is going to be a battle. There will be no time off. We're looking forward to it. It's going to be a challenge and things will be more interesting."

SOCCER

The formatting will be the same as volleyball, but the competitive balance, particularly on the boys' side, will be among the most interesting cases to watch this fall.

Longtime juggernaut South Tahoe is the biggest loss, both on the boys' and girls' side, but the boys' Sierra League still has perennial regional title contenders Carson, Galena, Douglas and Wooster in the mix, not to mention Manogue, which captured the regional title with a senior-laden squad last year.

Crossover games against the High Desert League, which has only captured a handful of playoff wins in the past five years and has not won a regional title in at least eight years, will be dangerous considering at least one powerhouse Sierra League team will be left out of the playoffs.

"It's a real tough league to start with, but then you have games against tough teams like Reno, Spanish Springs, Reed and Hug that will count toward the standings," Douglas coach Milko Vasquez said. "It will be very interesting to see how it plays out. We've got the perennial contenders in our league but Damonte Ranch is always getting better and we tend to have a tough time with them. It will be a very competitive league.

"The league may be smaller, and we lose some very good teams, but every game becomes more meaningful under this model. You're fighting for your life pretty much every night out, and if a team can't grasp that from the start, they are going to have a very short season. You can't afford to be complacent."

The crossover scheduling has caused some problems with officials, according to Carson coach Randy Roser, whose team has just six home games and 10 road games.

Carson was on the road for the bulk of its Saturday games last year, and was usually at home on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Roser said that there could be problems for the official's association to covering all the games. Having night games means some officials could work a game after school and then go to another site to work.

FOOTBALL

Northern 4A

Bishop Manogue

Carson

Damonte Ranch

Douglas

Galena

Hug

McQueen

North Valleys

Reed

Reno

Spanish Springs

Notes: Each team will play all but two teams from within the new Northern 4A. Schedules and sites will be rotated on a yearly basis, although some provision will be made for rivals who want to see each other every year (i.e. Carson-Douglas).

BASEBALL

Northern 4A

Bishop Manogue

Carson

Damonte Ranch

Douglas

Galena

McQueen

North Valleys

Reed

Reno

Spanish Springs

Wooster

Notes: Each team will play every other team twice consecutively during the season in games that count toward league standings. Games will be either Thursday, Friday or Saturday. The consecutive matchups are in place to keep teams from using one pitcher against the same school for two complete games during the year.

REMAINING TEAM SPORTS

High Desert League

Hug

McQueen

North Valleys

Reed

Reno

Spanish Springs

Sierra League

Bishop Manogue

Carson

Damonte Ranch

Douglas

Galena

Wooster

Notes: In every sport except softball and wrestling, teams will play each other team within their league twice (once at home, once away) and every team from the other league once (sites rotate on a yearly basis). All games count toward "league" standings. In wrestling, teams will only compete in duals against each other team within the league only once and no crossover matches (at least ones that count in the standings) with the other league will be scheduled. In softball, teams will play a Saturday doubleheader against every other team within the league and a Thursday single game against every team in the other league. Each game counts toward "league" standings. Also, cross country, tennis and golf will follow a basic league-structured schedule similar to what was employed in the past.

Nevada Appeal sports writer Darrell Moody contributed to the story.