Vaqueros host Wooster in search of first win

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

A Fernley football team hungry for its first win of the season will host Wooster Friday night.

After losing the opener to Douglas on a field goal on the last play of the game, the Vaqueros got dominated by Bishop (Calif.) Union last week in a 41-12 loss.

Bishop jumped on the Vaqueros early, leading 21-0 midway through the second quarter and led 35-0 late in the third quarter before the Vaqueros scored a couple of late touchdowns.

“It was a good humbling experience for our football team,” Fernley coach Anfernee Sloan said. “It was more or less just us not starting fast and not being ready to play a high-quality football program.”

Unlike the Bishop teams the Vaqueros had played the past few years that relied on speed, Sloan said Bishop overpowered the Vaqueros up front on Friday night, and he said he recognized that even before the game started.

“When I got out there, my observation watching those guys warm up was this is a more physical football team than they’ve been in the past,” he said.

Aside from being bigger and more physical up front, the Broncos were led by the power running of 215-pound running back Elijah Reynolds, who ran seven times for 72 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Emory Dondero ran for two touchdowns and threw two touchdown passes to Richie Talavera, who had 122 receiving yards,

“(Reynolds) reminded me of (former Elko running back) Eli Finlayson, big, strong,” Sloan said. “I think Bishop as a whole is a good football team.”

The two Vaqueros scores came on a 70-yard run from quarterback Bryce Stephens and a pass from Stephens to Diego Mendez.

Stephens led the Vaqueros with 115 yards rushing on eight carries and completed 11 of 20 passes for 140 yards and the one touchdown.

“It was a real good football game for him, statistically speaking,” Sloan said.

Keeshawn Love added 85 yards on 12 carries against a Bishop defense that committed to taking away the dive portion of the Vaqueros’ triple option offense.

“If I’m them, I’m probably going to eliminate the guy who ran for 150 yards, but he still ran for 85 yards,” Sloan said. “But it was a tough 85 yards. They hit him every single play.”

Sloan said he expects Wooster to also try to be physical against the Vaqueros this week.

“They’re going to try to overwhelm us up front,” he said. “But that’s why we run what we run. It benefits us because historically we’re not as strong up front, but we have to do the right things.”

Wooster comes into Friday’s game with a 1-1 record, after a 49-7 loss to Lovelock and a 20-19 win over Sparks. Wooster has run for 368 yards in two games, led by junior Az Alvarez, who has 213 yards rushing on 34 carries and has scored all four of the team’s touchdowns.

“I expect those guys to play good football, as always,” Sloan said. " It’s going to be a big-time matchup. I know our guys are ready to play.”

And unlike the last two weeks, where the Vaqueros haven’t scored until the fourth quarter, Sloan said they need to be ready to play from the opening kickoff.

“The challenge for us is to start fast and take care of the little things,” he said. “I don’t think effort has been an issue, but against Douglas and last week, we didn’t start fast.”