My Thoughts and Prognostications:
Reed certainly has the appearance of being unstoppable this season in the North.  Their powerful running game, paired with an unequalled aerial assault, is proving too much for local teams to overcome.  Only Carson and possibly McQueen stand a realistic chance of upsetting the Raiders at this point.

Top-seeded teams Reed, Carson, and McQueen should all be expected to win, with the only possible upset in my opinion being the Huskies/Tigers matchup.  On paper - Reno should win, but Douglas has been much stronger offensively against six mutual opponents.  And Reno enters the playoffs losing the last three in a row ... not exactly a confidence builder.  The key will lay within Douglas' defense which has allowed too many holes for opponents throughout the season.  If Reno finds and exploits those Tiger weaknesses, they'll move to the second round as well.  I have no dog in this fight, but having an equal measure of respect for both Coaches I can't resist rooting for the occasional upset.

Carson is finally providing a strong presence in the North and gaining recognition for their accomplishments.  And it's about time!!!  They've long been the largest high school in the Region with the greatest pool of athletes to draw from, so they should've been fielding strong teams for many years, but a seeming lack of interest in football and certain local pressures have kept the Senators languishing far too long.  They have some tremendous talent this season, and McQueen should relish the opportunity to challenge them in Round 2 of the playoffs (assuming each wins their Round 1 matchups). 

Conversely - while the NIAA can't foresee who the best teams will be each year, it seems that patterns of winning establish themselves over years for each team ... and none of the anticipated contenders should be allowed to march through a season without playing other top contenders.  It provides biased standings and often results in a "shared" league title, which brings less satisfaction to all winners.  In this case - Carson's toughest game of the year (statistically) was against neighboring Douglas, a team that ended up in fifth place as Carson roared through their schedule.  I'm not saying Carson isn't deserving of a shared crown - they've been exciting and dynamic this year!  Rather - my point is that  the NIAA should be more successful at eliminating this incredible volume of "by-weeks" affecting every team, and produce more matchups throughout the season.  If that requires a rules change, or moving a team between 3A/4A then consider it.  Each team is given a 10-week regular season, but all Northern squads waste 2 of those sitting and watching others!  That's unfortunate.

Some of our accomplishments:

• U.S. Serviceman stationed at bases around the world such as West Germany, Japan, and the Middle East have accessed LancerFan every season to check in on sons and nephews, while remembering a small taste of home from their foreign locations.
• Each of the last 3 years we've provided over 200,000 page downloads in a single month.  That's not just "hits", but actual page openings by visitors.
• We've kept LancerFan free and available to all, without advertising or subscription.  Sure - we might have been able to make some money from it, but that went against our principles for why the site was developed in the first place.
• We've captured more than 132,000 images of Lancer Pride from the field, displaying the vast majority online for you to share without cost as desired.
• Our photos have appeared in social networks, newspapers, media websites, game programs, and school yearbooks on behalf of the Lancers.
• We've produced one of the finest prep football sites in the West dedicated to a single team.
• We're Google's and Yahoo's first listing for "McQueen Football", in recognition of the traffic and content we produce at LancerFan.com.

Recently, while waiting to board an airplane, I was approached by the Mother of a McQueen athlete.  I was surprised she even recognized me from taking photographs on the sidelines.  But she was so gracious and shared how her son had been killed just a few months following his Senior football season, and that the pictures she downloaded from LancerFan were her last images of him and a great source of pride to her family showing him charge the field in Lancer blue.  Her willingness to share such a painful and sensitive memory touched me.

Most of all, it's been such a privilege and pleasure to know these many fine athletes that have come through McQueen's ranks over twelve years.  Some of them have moved on to successful college and NFL football careers, while others will go on to change the world in ways I can't yet imagine.  I've been fortunate to be a small part of, or more appropriately, a scribe to their youthful accomplishments and am thankful Karen and I have been able to give something back.  My thanks to the principals, athletic directors, and coaches at McQueen for allowing me access to the sidelines in order to tout their teams online.  I've worked hard to stay out of the way, and not impact the players while photographing ... my only failure occurring years ago when a flash was fired into the face of a receiver just as the ball approached.  That drew the coach's wrath (and I haven't used flash on the sidelines since - LOL). 

So what does the future hold for LancerFan?  Well - we're in discussions with the Booster Club regarding how LancerFan might continue under their direction, or possibly have the domain turned over to the school for their athletic department to maintain.  But I'll be stepping out at this point and allowing others to keep the tradition alive.  Thank you, readers, for tuning in from time to time and supporting our efforts.  We hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have.  Go Lancers!!!  

I'm disappointed to have missed this matchup between two outstanding football squads, and as a result I won't have images available from it to view on LancerFan.  Instead, this week's gallery will feature the McQueen / Galena game from last week.  Be sure to drop in that area of the site to view the many faces of Lancer pride!

My apologies to all readers that relied on this (previously official) game schedule.  I'm frustrated that the change was neither caught during late season edits or pointed out to us by faithful readers, but sometimes that's how it goes.  Sorry to all ...

Jason Stoll, Editor 

Every football team in our region is full of gifted athletes. Players who can soar high in the air, produce incredible bursts of speed, break seemingly impervious lines, or read the field instantaneously and make just the right decision.  But while an individual’s physical gifts can separate elite athletes from mediocre ones, they don’t guarantee championships for their team in and of themselves.  After all - those gifts can be nurtured or squandered by their owner as we’ve seen time and again at every sports level.  Player’s that seek their own glory at the sacrifice of a team’s success end up driving the team further away from the very goal they seek.   No - what separates a championship team from the normal squad is its ability, or inability, to play together as one cohesive unit with a single purpose.  Forty-four hearts working towards one goal!

As a photographer - I’ve stood on various sidelines and heard squabbles among other teams and their athletes each year.  Complaints by running backs that they don't get enough carries … Quarterbacks grumbling that their passing isn’t getting featured enough … and irritated lineman pointing blame at each other for missed tackles ... even arguing and swearing within their own huddles.   Sadly I’ve also witnessed coaches that merely yell for more intensity from their kids, then shake their heads and curse, not yet realizing within themselves that its all about teaching and coaching while building their athlete's confidence, even during the games!  All these negative attributes work to a team’s detriment and prevent it from finding greatness. 

McQueen’s football program, led by head coach Jim Snelling, suffers from none of these ailments!  He and his crew understand that having been capable athletes themselves a few years back doesn’t automatically make them good coaches today. They realize they'll have to work as hard at the discipline of coaching as their athletes work at the discipline of football.  Coaching is, at its core, the ability to teach others how to make the moves and understand the process involved, show them how to analyze factors effecting an athlete's choice on the field, then allow their athlete to step forward and execute based upon that teaching.  Through discipline and “team-first” ideals, McQueen produces a consistency among its athletes and teams each year that’s become the envy of many.  And within this selfless team environment embraced by the Lancers, individual athletes still shine in their accomplishments, while sharing even greater respect among team mates.

There are numerous debates about who will win the Regional and State Championships this year, but it won’t necessarily be the season's highest-scoring team, or the team that experiences a momentary "hot streak".  Instead - it will be the group that finds its identity as a team.  The team that selfishly hands the ball round as needed, explodes together to a higher level when required, and has players who embrace their role within the team that will flourish and succeed. It’s a mantra shouted silently by each McQueen athlete as they prepare for every battle:  Forty Four Hearts – One Mind!

The Lancers visited Damonte Ranch this week having no idea of the challenges they were about to face for the evening.  Damonte Ranch, being Washoe County’s newest 4A high school, has a relatively young football program and although they’ve made great strides and improvements each year under Coach Tony Amantia … it’s an unfortunate reality that some opponents may still take them for granted and look beyond the Mustangs.  I suggest those teams rethink that notion.

Football is an intricate game of inches and seconds.  Sometimes that’s not apparent to people in the stands, but on every ball hike there’s a violent explosion of intensity within each man for a few brief seconds as the linemen use every ounce of energy they have … pushing and bending their opponent in a chosen direction while the ball handler digs his feet into the turf and launches himself forward faster than he’s ever run in order to gain just a few more feet.  A handful of extra inches.  Sometimes that little spin move, the extra half-step taken as opponents drag him downward, or the reach of his outstretched arm can mean the difference between success and handing the ball over to his opponent.  Teammates come from behind and add their brute force to his back, propelling him forward to gain another 6, 8, or 12 more inches against a stack of opponents pushing just as hard to halt them.  And once it’s over … as these young men lift themselves from the turf with lungs gasping for oxygen and muscles cramping, thirst and aches vying for attention, they immediately take their stance again to repeat the process over and over, 120 times or so, in order to determine the game’s outcome and to declare their football supremacy!  The great football coach Vince Lombardi once said so eloquently in his signature, brusque style:  “There’s only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.  The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will ...”

The Lancers had the will within them on this night and at the closing moments they eeked out a narrow win having traded leads with the Mustangs throughout the match.  But McQueen turned out to be their own worst enemy as execution errors and mental mistakes compounded to keep Damonte on the cusp of defeating the Lancers for the first time in their school’s history.  As a longtime fan of Lancer Football I stay focused on the positive aspects and efforts of the team but was hugely dismayed to watch the cascade of issues appear in this game for McQueen such as ball snaps sailing yards beyond the kicker’s reach … passes thrown on the run from a back foot … opposing linebackers allowed free lanes directly into the McQueen backfield … and a number of other faux pas that appeared throughout the evening.  It was only by sheer will, determination, and experience that the Lancers walked away victorious but they’ll need to add crisp execution to their mix in order to remain successful throughout the season.  

You'll find it all here by clicking "PowerSnap" from the Quick link Menu on the left of your screen! (Acrobat Reader required)  Get Adobe Reader

First I toss out the ones that are out-of-focus (believe me - with the speed of McQueen's athletes there's quite a few).  Then I set aside those that are unflattering or embarrassing for some reason.  Finally, I eliminate those remaining "flops" that coulda-woulda-shoulda been great, such as when a referee jumps in front of me just as my shutter clicks ... or that great action shot I was anxious to review, but now realize it was nearly 100 yards away and is impossible to make out in my tiny image.  You get the idea.   And sometimes the perfect shot of the night is just pure luck, while other times it's careful planning and execution.

Anyway - after all our filtering, the remaining images are typically posted in the online photo gallery.  We take great care to not only capture play-action from the game, but also the surrounding fans, activities, and excitement that make up the entire McQueen's Friday Night experience!  We hope we're succeeding and that families enjoy the images. Then my final task is to review the action shots that remain and pick a fresh, exiting view of Lancer football.  It could be anyone, and throughout the season I like to take turns highlighting defense, offense, and special teams, so YOU could be next!!!   Some athletes or cheerleaders may not have seen themselves online much yet for the reasons listed above, but we'll keep trying throughout the season!