Nevada

NSU flag football team’s undefeated inaugural season ends prematurely

Published

2 months ago

April 7, 2026

NSU flag football team’s undefeated inaugural season ends prematurely

As a rule, first-year sports programs are not expected to be competitive. It can take time to build an administration, coaching staff and team capable of competing with the best.

Nevada State University’s fledgling flag football team threw that rule out the window this year.

The Scorpions just finished an undefeated inaugural season in which they won eight of 13 games by shutout while outscoring opponents by an average of 42 points. They built such a reputation that their final two opponents canceled games that would have been played this week.

“How our season has gone, teams don’t want to come out here to lose,” said coach Brandon Pappillion, who coached at Bishop Gorman before taking over at NSU. “It was very disappointing. One canceled, then the next day the other called to cancel.”

The Scorpions surprised opponents, but they did not surprise themselves.

“Going undefeated was our goal from the beginning,” Pappillion said.

But there were no playoff wins. Though the Scorpions have applied to join the NAIA next year, they were unaffiliated this season and were ineligible for postseason play. The NAIA is a similar to the NCAA but consists of many smaller and private universities.

Pappillion said he can wait, as he is confident he’ll have another dominant squad next year.

Easy to recruit

Unlike coaches of most first-year programs, Pappillion was able to recruit many of the top players in the country. He didn’t have to look very far, as Clark County has become the country’s hotbed for flag football talent. All 15 of his players came from Southern Nevada high schools.

Former Liberty standout Kaylie Phillips, a quarterback and defensive back, said she knew from the start that the team would be competitive in its first season.

“I knew we’d do really good, but to go undefeated with all the shutouts was the surprising part,” the freshman said. “But I never thought we’d lose, even in the close games.”

There weren’t many of those. The Scorpions defeated Arizona State 21-12 and Arizona Christian 28-26. The remainder of the victories could be classified as blowouts, including last month’s 83-0 trouncing of USC.

The Scorpions gained so much attention that Phillips and teammate Brooklin Hill recently were named to the 24-player US Women’s National Team roster. Training camp begins this month, with the IFAF World Championship scheduled for this summer in Germany.

Elite athletes

Hill, a former Desert Oasis standout, played her freshman season at the University of St. Mary in Kansas before returning home for her sophomore year. She said her homecoming has been a welcome step up.

“(St. Mary) was a good learning experience,” said Hill, who jumped on the offer to transfer to NSU’s first-year program. “I was able to get something out of it. But with the coaches and the players here, we have a winning culture and we believe we have to be the best.”

Pappillion said that culture did not come by accident.

“I think Nevada has the best talent across the country,” he said. “We’ve been doing this longer than anybody else because we were one of the first states to start flag football. We have a little advantage.”

If all goes as planned, the Scorpions will qualify for postseason play next year.

“The girls knew that this year was a chance to get their feet wet,” Pappillion said. “But they all want to play for a championship. That has always been their goal.”

Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.

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Nevada

Red Flag Warning issued for heightened fire danger in Southern Nevada

Published

7 hours ago

June 8, 2026

Press Room

Red Flag Warning issued for heightened fire danger in Southern Nevada

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — We’ll start the week with a heightened fire danger with dangerous heat later this week.

TODAY

Expect mostly sunny skies with winds picking up again on Monday. High temperatures will reach 98 degrees in Las Vegas with south winds 10-20 mph and wind gusts up to 30 mph.

A RED FLAG WARNING is in place from 10am to 9pm Monday for gusty winds and dry weather, so if a fire started, it would spread quickly.

Winds are estimated to be 20-25 mph with gusts around 40 mph at times with relative humidity of 5%-15%.

Air quality is ranked ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ for dust and tree pollen. The most common pollens are juniper, cedar, willow, sycamore and palm.

TONIGHT

We’ll see variable clouds this evening with skies going from mostly cloudy to mostly clear overnight.

Wind gusts will pick up again before midnight with gusts 30-40 mph possible downslope of the Spring Mountains in the west valley.

Elsewhere, gusts will be 20-30 mph. Breezes will eventually back down to 5-15 mph overnight. Valley lows will drop to around 74 degrees.

WHAT’S NEXT

We have reached 109 consecutive days without measurable rain in Las Vegas.

No rain is in sight, but for perspective, June is the driest month of the year in Las Vegas. Fingers crossed on a hopefully more active monsoon season!

High pressure builds next with highs 5-10 degrees above normal. Temperatures will reach around 108 degrees in Las Vegas by Friday. The last time we hit a high temperature of 108 degrees was back on August 20th of last year.

Not much relief is in sight by the weekend with highs around 107 degrees and temps at or above 105-106 degrees NEXT Monday through Wednesday.

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Nevada

DNA Doe Project unlocks cold case in Nevada

Published

17 hours ago

June 8, 2026

Press Room

DNA Doe Project unlocks cold case in Nevada

Growing DNA databases continue to unlock decades-old cold cases. How the DNA Doe Project helped to identify remains 37 years later.

Posted
6/8/2026, 2:51:05 AM

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Nevada

Meet the 2026 Nevada Preps All-Southern Nevada boys volleyball team

Published

1 day ago

June 7, 2026

Press Room

Meet the 2026 Nevada Preps All-Southern Nevada boys volleyball team

First team

Ty Ahlstrom, Centennial – The junior had 373 digs and was a first-team 5A all-state libero for the 5A state runner-up.

Evan Ditmar, Palo Verde – The senior first-team 5A all-state outside hitter had 187 kills with a .328 hitting percentage.

Luke Hashimoto, Arbor View – The senior had 302 digs and 37 aces for the 5A state champion.

Porter Hughes, Basic – The senior had 373 kills with 218 digs and 38 aces for the 5A state semifinalist.

Lincoln Larson, Centennial – The senior was the 5A state player of the year and was second in the state with 460 kills, on a .371 hitting percentage, and added 283 digs and 72 aces for the 5A state runner-up.

Jagger Mendenhall, Palo Verde – The senior first-team 5A all-state setter had 414 assists.

Risden Miller, Arbor View – The junior led the 5A state champion with 279 kills and added 173 digs.

RJ Regalado, Centennial – The senior had 723 assists and was a first-team 5A all-state.

Max Romzek, Shadow Ridge – The junior had 152 kills on a .437 hitting percentage with 66 blocks for the 5A state semifinalist.

Mateo Salomon, Shadow Ridge – The sophomore had 169 kills with a .374 hitting percentage for the 5A state semifinalist.

Keagan Sugden, Arbor View – The junior setter led the state with 1,129 assists for the 5A state champion.

Mau Tuiaana, Centennial – The senior had 162 kills on a .397 hitting percentage, 92 blocks and 147 digs for the 5A state runner-up.

Kenyon Wickliffe, Arbor View – The senior had a .477 hitting percentage with 176 kills and 46 blocks for the 5A state champion. He is committed to Cal State Northridge.

Jacob Wienke, Desert Oasis – The senior was the 4A Mountain League player of the year led the Diamondbacks with 290 kills and 154 digs on their way to the 4A state title.

Coach of the year

Nicole Adarme, Arbor View – Guided the Aggies to the Class 5A state title, the program’s first boys volleyball title.

Second team

Graham Blanchard, Arbor View – The senior had 179 kills, 32 aces and 136 digs for the 5A state champion.

Zelworth Chavis, Liberty – The 4A Lake League player of the year had 731 assists and 64 aces for the 4A state semifinalist.

Zavier Coleman, Shadow Ridge – The senior had 139 kills and 136 digs and was a first-team 5A all-state selection.

Andrew Gutierrez, Palo Verde – The junior had 153 kills 35 aces and was a first-team 5A all-state outside hitter.

Ty Hardy, Basic – The senior had 274 kills and 257 digs for the 5A state semifinalist.

Ty Harper, Shadow Ridge – The senior had 211 digs and was a first-team 5A all-state selection for the 5A state semifinalist.

Kaleb Law, Mojave – The senior was the 4A Sky League player of the year and was second in the state with 436 kills on a .457 hitting percentage with 69 blocks, 55 aces and 249 digs to help the Rattlers reach the 4A state semifinals.

Oakland Liugalua, Cadence — The freshman had 406 kills on a .396 hitting percentage with 154 digs and 57 aces.

Gavin McColl, Centennial – The senior had 154 kills on a .333 hitting percentage with 94 blocks for the 5A state runner-up.

Brad Rappleye, Sky Pointe – The junior was the 4A Desert League player of the year and had 187 kills and 78 blocks to help the Eagles reach the 4A state title game.

Levi Randall, Boulder City – The junior had 149 kills with a .477 hitting percentage and 92 blocks for the 3A state champion.

Yeheshua Ruiz, Foothill – The senior had 157 kills with a .426 hitting percentage with 70 blocks and was a first-team 5A all-state selection.

Preston Van Beveren, Boulder City – The senior had 137 kills on a .457 hitting percentage with 99 blocks, 27 aces and 141 digs for the 3A state champion.

David Zwahlen, Boulder City – The 3A state player of the year had 232 kills with a .364 hitting percentage, with 337 digs and 70 aces.