BY DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Sports Writer
The Dayton Dust Devils, with just four returnees from last season, kicks off the 2008 season with a tough nonconference game against 2A power Battle Mountain.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Dayton High School.
Dayton coach Rick Walker knows very little about Battle Mountain and he's burned up the phone lines trying to get any information at all.
"You never know from year to year," Walker said. "I know their basketball team came here last year or the year before and they had a couple of big guys that were 6-5 or 6-6. I know they have a good running back returning."
Walker said his young team settled down after the first series in a scrimmage with Fernley, South Tahoe, Yerington and Rite of Passage, and that he came away happy with their performance.
"When we blocked our assignments correctly, I thought we did a good job of running the ball," Walker said. "We had a couple of blown assignments. Kelly Elloyan, who didn't play last year, had the best hit of the day. Ryan Tookey had a nice TD and made some nice plays on defense."
Walker announced that Connor Conroy has won the starting quarterback job over Bryan Thomas for tonight's opener.
"He had a little more poise and executed better," Walker said.
Both Conroy and Thomas quarterbacked the junior varsity team a year ago.
LAS VEGAS (0-0) AT DOUGLAS (0-0)
When: Tonight, 7 p.m.
Where: Douglas High School
2007 records: Douglas 8-3, Las Vegas 9-5
Coaches: Mike Rippee (Douglas); Chris Faircloth (Las Vegas)
The skinny: Las Vegas standout Alanzi Langstaff returns after losing his junior season to a knee injury. Las Vegas will be helped by two senior transfers... Douglas' offense is led by tackle Parker Robertson, who is one of the top linemen in the state, quarterback Tim Rudnick and wide receiver Zach McFadden.
Players to watch: Las Vegas " DL Alanzi Langstaff, QB Emir Lopez, RB/DB Reggie Bullock. Douglas: OT Parker Robertson, QB Tim Rudnick, WR Zach McFadden, CB Tanner Thomas, S Brad Gonzales.
LEGACY (0-0) AT GALENA (0-0)
When: Saturday, 10 a.m.
Where: Galena High School
2007 records: Galena 9-3, Legacy 2-8
Coaches: Steve Struzyk (Galena); David Snyder (Legacy)
The skinny: Legacy is a junior-dominated team that is expected to be more competitive in just its third season of football. Quarterback Zach Monticelli returns after throwing for five TDs as a sophomore ... Galena returns just six starters from last year's senior-laden playoff squad. Both quarterbacks, Luke Hess and Beau Bickel, are expected to play in the opener. The Grizzlies will count on Taylor Tatro and Jarrod Faust to carry the running load. Mick Johnson anchors the defense up front.
Players to watch: Legacy " WR/DB Deshae Edwards, FB/LB Prince Oroke, G John Medina, QB Zach Monticelli, DL James Price, LB Rodney Gilmore. Galena: QB/TE Luke Hess, FB/LB Taylor Tatro, OL/DL David Deal, DB/RB Jarrod Faust, OT Tom Ferencik, OL/LB Jeff Belle.