SOUTHWEST DIVISION: Big year seen for Durango

Bonanza and Clark High School should both feature improved football squads this season, but Durango appears to be the team to beat in the Southwest Division.

The Trailblazers, who have made the playoffs four of the last five years, only went 4-6 last year, but they return 11 starters and 17 lettermen overall and feature six players who weigh more than 270 pounds.

"We will be one of the biggest teams, size-wise, in recent years," Durango coach John Mausbach said. "Our strength will be the offensive and defensive lines, an experienced quarterback and seven returning starters on defense.

"I think it's going to be competitive, but we want to be the No. 1 seed coming out of the Southwest Division, and the rest will take care of itself."

Jon Jimenez returns to anchor the defensive line. The 6-foot, 3-inch, 240-pound senior was named first team all-Sunset Region and second team all-Southern Nevada at defensive tackle last year and is also expected to see action at tight end.

Luke Doty returns to anchor the offensive line. The 6-3, 250-pound senior was named second team all-Sunset Region at guard last year and was rated the No. 1 tested player at the Brigham Young University football camp in the offseason.

Mausbach said Doty, who has a 3.66 grade-point average, is the strongest player on the team and a Division I prospect.

Bill Amidon, a 6-foot, 235-pound senior, was named second team all-Sunset Region at inside linebacker last year and is also slated to start at fullback.

Robby Martinez, a 6-1, 210-pound senior, returns to start at quarterback and Mausbach said he's armed with more strength and confidence this season.

Corey McCants and Ahmad Atkins will compete for playing time at tailback, with McCants getting the early nod. Durango must replace running back Jamar Thomas, who rushed for close to 2,000 yards and scored 25 touchdowns en route to first team all-Southern Nevada honors last year.

McCants, a 6-0, 173-pound senior, is a returning starter at cornerback and one of the fastest players on the team. Atkins, a 6-0, 165-pound junior, started at free safety last season and is one of the team's biggest hitters.

Tony Bachhuber, a 6-3, 300-pound senior, returns to start on the offensive line while Shaun Austin, a 6-2, 270-pound senior, returns to start on the defensive line.

Danny Giordani, a 6-1, 200-pound senior, returns to start at inside linebacker.

Other players expected to contribute include senior kicker Fred Colemon, senior wide receiver Trevor Bloom, wideout/free safety Nick Terc, junior lineman Mike Kravetz (6-5, 276), junior lineman Shahe Yeretzian (6-5, 310), junior wideout/free safety Jonathan Phillips (6-5), senior punter Brandon Haggerton, senior defensive back/wideout Tony Garcia, junior defensive back Matt Macik, junior strong safety Allen McIntyre, senior linebacker Sawyer Clark, senior defensive lineman Rossi Sammarco (6-3, 280), senior lineman Jeremy Fried (274 pounds) and junior linebacker Vince Dimick (6-3).

"We have a good senior leadership class and they have a positive attitude," Mausbach said. "Hopefully, that will translate into victories."

Likewise, Bonanza head coach Nick Butera is trying to instill a winning attitude in the Bengals, who struggled to a 1-8 record last year despite being close in the majority of their games and averaging more than 20 points per contest over the last half of the season.

"We had a lot of close games and we were injury-plagued," Butera said. "I thought it would be a great year, but we never got off the ground. Our goal for this year is to be competitive and that's something I really think we can do.

"We want to take every game into the fourth quarter and see what happens."

Bonanza returns eight starters and 13 lettermen overall. Seniors Sean Hansell (6-0, 200), Zack Hill (6-1, 180) and Adam Schirling (6-5, 270) all return to anchor the Bengals' offensive line and all three will also play defense, with Hansell at linebacker.

Jaishawn White, a 6-1, 180-pound senior, will start at quarterback and defensive back for the Bengals after starting at wide receiver and running back last season.

"He's in a system where the quarterback runs quite a bit," Butera said.

Adam Alvers, a 6-3, 190-pound senior, will start at wide receiver and defensive end this season after starting at tight end last year.

Luis Rosero, a 6-0, 170-pound junior, is slated to start at cornerback and wide receiver after playing jayvees last season.

"I'm real excited about our two wideouts," Butera said. "Adam had a great year last year at tight end. Our tight end doesn't catch that many passes, but he made a lot of good things happen. He's going to be one of the better (receivers), I think, at least in our conference."

Maurice Spears, a 6-1, 195-pound senior, is also slated to start at defensive end and Mike White, a 5-10, 215-pound junior, is also expected to see action there.

"I think the strength of the team is definitely our defensive ends," Butera said. "I think we're going to upgrade our defense quite a bit."

Joe Chatman, a junior, is slated to start at free safety and running back in Bonanza's one-back set. Mark Seward, a sophomore, is expected to start at tight end and outside linebacker. John Newton, a senior who had 19 catches last season, should see action at wide receiver.

Clark coach James Massey is also excited about his skill position players. They'll need to excel if the Chargers are to improve on last year's 2-7 campaign.

"We've got the talent, I feel, to make the playoffs," Massey said. "Our numbers are going to be around 35 on varsity, which isn't bad for us, and we're going to have experience in the skill positions. We're going to be small up front, but quick. It's the quickest line we've had in quite a while."

James Rensvold, a 5-11, 180-pound senior, returns to start at quarterback, where he rushed for close to 400 yards and threw for close to 600 yards last year.

Jacque Williams, a 5-10, 170-pound senior, returns to start at tailback, where he rushed for close to 800 yards and scored 11 touchdowns last season.

Kinson Francois, a 6-2 senior wideout/running back, had 24 catches and two touchdowns last year despite playing on a predominantly running team.

Travis Stewart, a 6-1, 282-pound senior transfer from Louisiana, is expected to start at fullback.

"We'll be predominantly seniors in the backfield and predominantly juniors up front," Massey said. "Defensively, we've got all juniors. We're building from scratch on defense and we didn't do that well last year. We're fairly small and have trouble stopping people."

Massey said staying healthy will be a big key to Clark's season.

"With our numbers, we don't really have any push behind the starters," he said. "I'm really concerned about injuries. We have to stay healthy to compete."

Clark will kick off its season at 7 Friday night at Foothill, Bonanza will be at Chaparral and Durango will be at Green Valley.