Basic football looks to close season on high note

Jordan Gallegos couldn’t have imagined some of the turns his senior football season has taken.

But even after a detour caused by a fight following a game with Canyon Springs, Gallegos and his Basic teammates have their sites set firmly on one thing: beating rival Foothill.

The Wolves (3-4, 2-1 Southeast League) host the fifth-ranked Falcons (6-1, 2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.

“We know it’s a big rivalry between Basic and Foothill,” said Gallegos, a wide receiver and safety. “We just want to go out there and show what kind of team we are, our talent, how smart we are and what we’re able to do on both sides of the ball.”

The fight between Canyon Springs and Basic gained national attention after a police officer used pepper spray to end the brawl. It also forced both teams to forfeit their next game and put a stigma on the season.

Gallegos and some of his teammates faced another emotional week after their former youth coach, Charleston Hartfield, was killed in the mass shooting Oct. 1 at the Route 91 Harvest festival.

“There’s been a bunch of bumps in the road, but I like the way that we stood together as a team,” Gallegos said. “We overcame adversity, and I just really like the team I have this year, even though everything hasn’t gone our way.”

Among the things that didn’t go Basic’s way was the schedule, which forced the Wolves to play three top-five teams in the final three weeks of the regular season.

Basic is coming off a 35-21 loss to No. 4 Green Valley in the annual “Henderson Bowl” rivalry game last week. To follow that against Foothill, which sits just 2.5 miles from the Basic campus, is tough enough. But Basic closes the season at No. 2 Liberty on Thursday.

“It’s pretty tough,” senior wide receiver-linebacker Zack Grismanauskas said of the three-game stretch. “That’s pretty much our main three rivals.”

Foothill beat the Wolves 37-35 last season, and the Falcons have been especially strong on defense this season, allowing only 82 points. Forty-three of those were against Liberty.

“The way the schedule works out, it’s a tough back-to-back going from Green Valley and the emotions of that game and coming into this one,” Basic coach Jeff Cahill said. “But our kids are resilient, and they’re excited about this one. It’s senior night. It should be fun.”

Gallegos and Grismanauskas figure to play big roles on both sides of the ball for the Wolves. Both have scored a team-high five touchdowns. Grismanauskas is the Wolves’ top receiver with 29 catches for 538 yards and five TDs. He also leads the team with three interceptions and is third in tackles with 45.

Gallegos leads Basic with 78 tackles and has two interceptions. He’s also caught 25 passes for 359 yards.

“We just want to go out and give it our best shot, because we know we’ve got a good team,” Gallegos said. “We know we’re able to compete with all those guys, and we just want to show our talent here.”

More preps: Follow all of our Nevada Preps coverage online at nevadapreps.com and @NevadaPreps on Twitter.

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow @DamonSeiters on Twitter.