By Arianna Schmidt
Sports at Carson High School and league-wide were abruptly halted last spring due to state-wide COVID-19 shutdowns and social distancing restrictions.
When Carson High School’s doors locked for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, the chance for many senior students to play one last season of their sport followed suit.
“It impacted things dramatically,” said Blair Roman, CHS Athletic Director and head football coach. “Just from a school and social standpoint, for a typical teenager, it had a major impact on kids. It goes without saying and everybody recognized that. For a lot of these kids too, their sport is also part of their social fabric, and that was impacted dramatically across the board with kids.”
Again in fall 2020, major sports like football were unable to have their season, under the same restrictions spring athletes experienced six months earlier. A light at the end of the tunnel was found, however, and fall sports were given a chance to compete this spring.
The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, under Directive 034 issued by Governor Steve Sisolak, green-lit Cross Country, Girls’ Golf, Soccer, Tennis, and Girls’ Volleyball to begin practicing on Feb. 21, with games to start on March 5, according to their website.
A “return to play guidance for the sport of football, a full/close-contact sport” initiated by Emergency Directive 038 was issued on Feb. 17. The Senators played their first scrimmage in over a year on March 5.
Wrapping up a four-game football season with eight other schools participating from the league, a “bowl week” will begin next week as a substitute to the normal regional playoffs, during which the top two teams will be competing.
According to Roman, all teams will be participating except Galena High School, who had to cancel their game against the Senators last week due to a COVID outbreak.
“Our seniors get some resemblance of a senior season,” Roman said of the short-lived season. “My senior class is probably one of the more high character and good classes of kids that I’ve had. I’ve been fortunate to coach a lot of awesome kids. I would definitely rate our seniors as a very, very good group of kids.”
Despite a 0-3 record thus far, Roman said the team has shown immense improvements, which shows potential for coming back stronger next season, only three short months away.
“One of the things I don’t think that many people realize is, we have 17 sophomores and a freshman up on varsity this spring season,” Roman said. “We are definitely building for next fall and we’re a very young team. Having 17 sophomores on varsity is pretty unheard of for sure in football.”
Roman commends the team’s improvements in overall physicality and tackling, as well as the team’s determination to complete plays defensively. Standouts include linebacker Ben Heaton with 24 tackles and safety Javier Arellano.
“We see a lot of teams these days that throw the ball with spread offenses, so having some really confident play by your defensive backs is a real must in today’s game,” Roman said. “That’s an area that’s really been apparent that’s made a big difference.”
Offensively, Roman said he still considers a work in progress, but has improved drastically. Five sophomores make-up Carson’s starting o-line, including tackles Travis Heald and Sean Finn (who is hurt with a broken hand), guard Cade Encinas, center Logan Harvey, and tight-end Mack Chambers.
“The first three teams that we’ve played are very senior laden,” Roman said. “I’ve got some very young kids on our offensive line and they’re going against some very experienced players, and it’s shown. We’ve had our ups and downs but I am happy with the progress that we’ve made.”
According to Roman, some skill position players like their quarterback Vinny Ferretti, running backs Jake Campbell, Parker Story and Gio Arce and wide receiver DeCarlo Quintana are great athletically to have on the Senator squad.
Jeremy Heaton, running back, leads the team in rushing yards, with a 27-yard touchdown in last week’s game.
“We’ve played really stiff competition and haven’t had a chance to show that yet,” Roman said. “I’m excited about the last two games to see how we improve on the offense, or continue to improve.”
Carson High will face off at home against cross-town rivals the Douglas Tigers tonight at 6 pm.
“We’ve been fortunate and I think we’ve done a good job at being vigilant and following the protocols as best we can,” Roman said. “All of our sports teams have too, we’ve been fortunate not having to cancel anything. I will definitely, as an AD, commend all of our coaches there.”
Girls’ volleyball and both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams all qualified for regional competitions beginning next week, according to Roman. Cross country will also be attending their regional meet, as both boys’ and girls’ tennis were able to have a season despite choppy weather this spring.
According to Roman, all spring sports are scheduled to compete. Each sport, including baseball, softball, swimming, track and field, and boys’ golf will follow a six-week season format.
“Because of the nature of the sports, we are able to play a full league schedule this year for baseball and softball,” Roman said. “They just won’t get a lot of tournaments and extra games that they usually get.”
Swimming will be run differently than in the past, Roman said, because of indoor swim facilities being used, but a regional championship will still be held at the end of the year.
In hopes of fall sports, as well as fanfare in the form of spectators, Roman expects a full schedule of sports to return and said the NIAA is “forging ahead” with complete athletic seasons.
“I think everybody is looking forward to more of a sense of normalcy,” Roman said. “We’re certainly hoping that we can host full crowds at all of our sporting events next year. That alone feeds into a school culture.”
With athletics making a comeback in the past month, Roman said a dramatic improvement of academics has been seen as well as the overall morale at the high school among the student body.
“Since sports have started up in February, it’s made a big impact at Carson High, just the atmosphere at the school with the kids,” Roman said. “I would anticipate that that is coming back to life, so to speak. Hopefully in the fall we’ll start to see that return to normalcy that helps a school culture thrive.”
