Nevada Preps: Top 5 football games for Week 9

Top 5 games

All games at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted

Faith Lutheran at Desert Pines

Desert Pines (6-1, 2-0 league) will clinch the No. 2 seed in Class 5A Mountain League with a victory. Faith Lutheran (6-1, 1-1) will clinch with a victory over the Jaguars and a win the following week over Green Valley or a Desert Pines loss at Liberty.

Getting the No. 2 seed means a home game in the first round of the playoffs, while the third seed puts that team on the road.

Desert Pines carries a six-game win streak into this game with a defense that has given up 24 points over that span. Faith Lutheran has won convincingly every week, the exception a 41-6 loss to Liberty on Sept. 23.

Bishop Gorman at Palo Verde

Bishop Gorman (7-1, 3-0) will clinch the top seed in the Class 5A Desert League with a victory. The situation is more complicated with Palo Verde (4-4, 2-1).

The Panthers lost to Arbor View (6-1, 2-1) on Sept. 30, creating a potential three-way tie. For the Panthers to have any shot against Gorman, they must not only play their best game but hope the Gaels play far from perfect.

Given Gorman has outscored its three league foes 190-0, that’s not a likely scenario.

Las Vegas at Bishop Manogue, 7 p.m.

The Class 4A Wildcats (6-1) play up a class when they travel to Reno to play 5A Manogue (6-2), an interesting late-season test that should prepare Las Vegas High for the playoffs.

The Wildcats already have clinched the top seed in the Mountain League. They are quarterbacked by Elijah Espinoza, who passed for 607 yards and six touchdowns last week against Durango.

Sunrise Mountain at Silverado

The Skyhawks (7-0, 3-0) will take a major step toward clinching the top seed in the Class 4A Desert League. A victory by Sunrise Mountain (4-4, 2-1) throws the league into potential chaos with the possibility of a four-way tie.

Silverado, if this season’s results are any indication, shouldn’t be seriously challenged. The Skyhawks have outscored their opponents 381-23.

Lincoln County at Democracy Prep, 7 p.m.

Just when it looked like The Meadows was steamrolling to the Class 2A Southern League title, Democracy Prep (3-2, 3-1) surprised the Mustangs last week by winning 18-7. That means four teams are 3-1 in the league with three games to play.

Lincoln County (5-1, 3-1) is one of those teams, so that means this game should provide some clarity. That’s the idea anyway.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.