For the past three years, it’s been one bad break here and one mistake there that has kept Fernley
from breaking through to the top of the Northern 3A.
With a large group of seniors who are now in their third and fourth years on the varsity team, the
Vaqueros feel ready to take that leap.
“I think (this team) has got what it takes this year,” senior captain Riley McCullar said. “We’re a
good group. Everyone’s training hard during offseason conditioning, everyone’s doing their job
in practice.”
The Vaqueros will open the season Friday night at Douglas but got their first taste of competition
at a scrimmage at North Valleys on Aug. 8. The Vaqueros faced Bishop Manogue, North Valleys,
Carson and Fallon and came away feeling like they more than held their own against all four
opponents.
“I think this league doesn’t know what’s about to hit them,” McCullar said.
Having lost in the first round of the playoffs the last two seasons, senior captain Keeshawn Love
said the team is ready to go deeper into the playoffs this year.
“There’s obviously little, small things that we’ve got to clean up, but other than that, I think
we’re ready to compete,” he said.
Coach Anfernee Sloan said he was happy with the team’s performance on both sides of the ball
during last Friday’s scrimmage, but said the team needs to tackle better and clean up some
assignment errors on defense.
“Outside of that, I love the way we play up front,” he said. “I think we’re a lot more physical. We
moved the football very well and we scored, and we looked like we were in midseason form just
now.”
The Vaqueros will need to be close to midseason form early this season. They open the season
this week against a Douglas team that beat them 16-13 last year, and then host Bishop Union
(Calif.) next Friday, a team that beat them 41-12 last season.
Douglas is led by returning all-5A Division II running back and defensive back Zachary Jackson,
who ran for more than 1,400 yards last year and caught 26 passes for 338 yards, scoring a total of
20 touchdowns.
The Vaqueros return most of their offensive production from last season. Love ran for 1,992
yards and 19 touchdowns, and McCullar added 640 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
Five of the six players who caught at least one pass last season are back, along with quarterback
Bryce Stephens, who ran for 633 yards and 11 touchdowns and threw for 865 yards and nine
touchdowns.
For the first time in the last three years, the Vaqueros also return most of their linemen.
Sloan hopes that’s a recipe for his team to take a big step forward. He said the players had a
productive year in the weight room since last season ended and are bigger, faster and stronger
than the team that ended last year with a 36-25 loss to Spring Creek in the first round of the
playoffs.
“Again, the weight room shows its true colors,” Sloan said. “We’re over here running guys over.
We are physically there.”
The players say they are mentally there, as well.
“We lost twice in the first round of the playoffs, so we hate that feeling,” said senior captain Joey
Machado. “We’re going to win this year.”
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