This isn't a typical season-opening game for Carson High's football team.
Instead of a regional match-up somewhere in Northern Nevada, Carson left school at 6:30 a.m. Friday and traveled approximately 10 hours to Pocatello, Idaho for its match-up against Highland High School.
Kick-off is set for 6:30 p.m. today at Idaho State's Holt Arena, and fans unable to make the trip can watch the game live on idahosports.com.
Carson coach Blair Roman is excited to get the season going. He bypassed a second scrimmage/preseason game last week to give his young team some extra work. He said he has been very happy with how his team has practiced recently.
"This game does mean a lot," he said. "It's a regional contest, and it's the first time that I can remember a team from Carson traveling this distance. We're representing Northern Nevada.
"This game will tell us where we're at and what we need to work on before we start league play (Sept. 16)."
Highland enters the game with an advantage. It already has a game and scrimmage under its belt while the Senators just have their scrimmage against McQueen.
"They are playing essentially a home game and we are traveling 10 hours and not sleeping in our own beds," Roman said. "It's hard to sleep most of the time before your first game. I was that way. Coach (Bob) Bateman said that there is nothing like sleeping in your own bed.
"This trip will help bring the team together on the trip. We'll start to see what our identity is going to be. One of the things that the kids are looking forward to is playing on a big stage. We had a taste of that last year at the regional championship against McQueen. This trip is all they have talked about for six months. We'll try to represent Northern Nevada the best we can."
The opener will also mark the return of Dylan Sawyers, who had off-season surgery to repair a groin injury. How much he plays remains to be seen. Roman said he has a plan, but didn't divulge it.
Two players who won't play are sophomore center Aaron Cowee, who has yet to be cleared after suffering a concussion in practice prior to the McQueen scrimmage. Also out is junior tackle Joe Zinda.
That means that Aaron Spurlock remains at center, while Levi Carter and Jeremy Vernon are at the tackles. Returnees Logan Peternell and Jacob Myers are at guard.
Roman plans on playing both of his quarterbacks - Chance Quilling and Matt Nolan. The latter led the team in rushing in the scrimmage. Quilling has the stronger arm, but he can also run the ball.
"They are big and strong," Roman said. "We need to mix it up between the run and pass.
They only gave up 12 points last week, and six came on a kick return."
Highland's offense is led by junior quarterback Neil Jewell and senior running back Andre Lopez. According to Highland coach Gino Mariani, his team will be without tight end Colton Shreve.
"They like to throw the ball and do a good job with the passing game," Roman said. "I was impressed with Jewell and how he got rid of the ball."
NOTES: Mariani, Highland's coach went to Carson High and is the brother of Ferd Mariani, a former Carson football coach and athlete ... Carson has a bye on Sept. 9 before opening the season on Sept. 16 ... The new stadium lights were tested and adjusted earlier this week. Roman said there were a few bulbs that needed to be replaced. He did say that there aren't as many lights as there were last year due to economic constraints, but he hoped to raise enough money to get more lights on the standards next year.
