After cancellations, Vaqueros set for second try at opener

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

After two cancelations last week, the Fernley High School football team will take another shot at beginning the season this week.

The Vaqueros are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Friday at South Tahoe. However, because smoke from California wildfires forced the closure of Lake Tahoe beaches and parks on Monday, the schools are monitoring the situation and the air quality and it won’t be determined until later in the week whether the game can be played at South Tahoe.

Fernley athletic director Paul Sullivan said the current backup play would be to play Saturday morning in Fernley if Friday night doesn’t work.

Fernley’s originally scheduled season opener last week at North Valleys was canceled during the week because of a positive COVID-19 test at North Valleys. When the Reed-Wooster game was also canceled, Fernley and Reed agreed to meet Friday night.

But, late Friday afternoon, smoke rolled into the Reno/Sparks area like fog, and all but one of the games scheduled in Washoe County were called off. The lone exception was the game between Liberty (Calif.) and Spanish Springs.

Only two Northern 3A teams were able to open the season last week. Lowry defeated Douglas 24-6, while Fallon suffered a 42-18 loss to Reno.