Local

Cougars to host 4th annual Jamboree

By JIM MANIACI, Laughlin Nevada Times

Monday, August 17, 2009 2:14 PM PDT

LAUGHLIN - The LHS varsity football team will open its independent-status season by hosting the fourth annual Laughlin High School Jamboree at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, in Cougar Stadium, Coach Jason Leonard has announced.

Admission will be free and the concession stand will be open for the three-state, six-team, round-robin that should take about three hours. Four teams will be on the 80-yard field at one time as only a half-field is needed for the no kicking, no points after touchdown scrimmages, while the other two rest.

Leonard said that in addition to the Cougars, Mohave Accelerated Learning Center's Patriots will cross the Colorado River from Bullhead City, along with the Kingman Academy of Learning Tigers and the Lake Havasu City Telesis Tigers. Hurricane, Utah, Diamond Ranch's Diamondbacks and Henderson International's Wolverines (the only other Nevada team) will round out the group. Henderson and Diamond Ranch replace the Sandy Valley, Nev., Sidewinders and the Quartzsite, Ariz., Scholars Academy Stars.

Under Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association rules, a team is allowed 40 offensive and 40 defensive plays. Leonard said the eight-man offenses will begin at the 35-yardline and run 10 hikes, then will switch to defense for 10 plays. Each squad will have four go-rounds to reach its 80 total allotted snaps.

He added that some of the officials are certified by both the NIAA and the Arizona Interscholastic Association, although the three Arizona teams are members of a separate charter school athletic association.

Last year the Silver and Blue outscored their four foes 10-3 in touchdowns, including MALC, Kingman Academy and Telesis.

The Cougars will begin their fourth season under Leonard's direction at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, in Cougar Stadium against the Red, White and Blue of Indian Springs High School. They will defend the Ray DePalma Memorial Trophy, known as “The Shoe,” that LHS regained last year at their northwestern Clark County School District foe's Thunderbird Field.