Raiders go all the way in opening Allegiant Stadium to high schools

The Raiders and the Clark County School District this week combined to create a silver lining for high school football teams amid the lingering COVID shutdown.

The two announced a football “jamboree” that will allow nine randomly selected teams to use Allegiant Stadium as a practice or scrimmage facility April 23 and 24. CCSD Superintendent Jesus Jara discussed the still-sketchy plans during a news conference at Sierra Vista High School, where it also was announced that limited spectators would be allowed to attend spring sports when an abbreviated season begins April 16.

High school sports slowly are returning to normal. Emphasis on slowly.

That selected teams will be allowed onto the hallowed turf of a spectacular new NFL stadium to toss the pigskin around won’t offset the loss of the 2020 season. Nor will it be a panacea for the frustration that developed when the CCSD could not find a way to safely get players back on the field.

But Dustin Forshee, for one, appreciates the gesture.

“Since announcing that Las Vegas was going to be home for the Raiders, they have done a phenomenal job when it comes to high school football,” said the Centennial coach, who drew up X’s and O’s in the 2019 large schools state championship game — the last time high school football was played under normal circumstances in Southern Nevada.

Something to look forward to

The Raiders committed $250,000 for a new synthetic playing surface at Rancho and recently joined UNLV in hosting a coaching clinic. And though others have blasted the school district for canceling the season, Forshee said there must have been immense pressure in deciding how to proceed.

He said when the coaches asked to have spring practice in full pads, the district complied. But the chance to block and tackle in an NFL stadium gives the high school kids — at least those whose teams are selected — something just as important.

Something to look forward to.

“Getting to scrimmage where the Raiders play, that’s pretty awesome,” said Forshee, who recalled the thrill of playing in Tennessee’s cavernous Neyland Stadium and Wisconsin’s iconic Camp Randall Stadium with the UNLV football team.

“A lot of these kids, that’s their dream, to play in an NFL stadium. To have a chance to set foot out there and experience it, that hopefully leads to a little bit of motivation for the kids to do the right things in the classroom and the community and the football field and all those things.”

Bright spot, dark year

Rich Muraco, who was patrolling the sideline the last time high school shoulder pads popped in earnest — his Liberty team routed Centennial 50-7 in the 2019 state title game — thinks there will be so much interest in the Allegiant Stadium jamboree that a lot of teams will be subjected to additional disappointment when their names aren’t called.

Still, Muraco said, helmets off to the Raiders and the CCSD for trying to make lemonade out of bitter lemon.

“Absolutely I’m hoping we get selected, but I don’t know how they are going to pick the teams,” Muraco said. He chuckled when it was mentioned that still being defending state champs 16 months after receiving the Gatorade shower should give the Patriots dibs on one of the nine slots.

“For kids to get the opportunity to play inside an NFL stadium is special,” Muraco said. “Sometimes if you’re lucky, you might have a state championship game (in a major stadium), but that’s only two teams, or a few teams depending on their classification and if they get lucky. By them opening it up to nine schools, there’s going to be lots and lots of kids who really remember this.”

Muraco did not hesitate in trying to come up with the right words to describe the Raiders’ benevolent gesture.

“It’ll maybe make for a little bit of a bright spot in an otherwise dark year,” he said.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.