High school football in Nevada isn't just a game; it’s a culture. If you were anywhere near Allegiant Stadium this past November, you felt it. The 2025 nevada high school football playoffs wrapped up with a mix of expected dominance and the kind of "no way that just happened" upsets that keep us coming back every year.
It was a long road.
The brackets started tightening up back on Halloween, and by the time the dust settled on November 25, we had a new set of kings. Northern Nevada basically staged a hostile takeover of the state trophies. It was wild. While the big-name powerhouses down south usually grab the headlines, the 2025 season belonged to the teams coming over the mountains.
The Open Division: Bishop Gorman Still Owns the Throne
Look, we have to talk about Bishop Gorman. Honestly, at this point, it feels like we’re just waiting to see who gets the silver medal. The Gaels didn’t just win the Open Division; they steamrolled it. They finished the season 11-1, outscoring people by a ridiculous margin of 501-64.
They faced Arbor View in the final.
The Aggies actually put up a decent fight compared to the year before, but "decent" against Gorman still means a 44-7 loss. Maika Eugenio, the Hawaii commit, was just playing a different game. He tossed five touchdowns and 303 yards like it was a light Sunday practice. By halftime, it was 28-0.
If you're an Arbor View fan, you've gotta be proud of the grit, though. They knocked off Liberty 41-28 in the semifinals to even get there. That Liberty win was a statement. Thaddeus Thatcher and Kamareion Bell were electric, but once they stepped onto the turf at Allegiant against Gorman, the "Gaels Wall" was just too high to climb.
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The North Strikes Back: The 5A and 4A Shockers
This is where things got really interesting. For years, the narrative has been that Southern Nevada football is just "better." Well, the Spanish Springs Cougars and the McQueen Lancers decided they’d had enough of that talk.
Spanish Springs was a freight train.
They finished 13-0. Think about that—undefeated in a season where everyone is gunning for you. They played Faith Lutheran in the 5A State Championship and it wasn't particularly close. The Cougars jumped out to a 20-3 lead in the first half and just kept pouring it on. Tyson McNeil was zipping passes all over the field, and Brady Hummel was doing Brady Hummel things. Final score: 42-23. It was the first state title in the school's history.
Then there was the 4A game. This was the "Wait, what?" moment of the nevada high school football playoffs.
Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon was undefeated. They were the Cinderella story—only their second full season as a program and they were crushing everybody. They even beat a 5A team (Foothill) during the regular season. Everyone expected them to walk through McQueen.
McQueen had other plans.
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The Lancers haven't won a title since 2008. They trailed 21-13 in the fourth quarter after Sloan Canyon’s Cade Hoshino found Justice Hutchins for a score. It looked over. But McQueen rattled off 14 unanswered points in the final seven minutes. They got a massive interception at their own 5-yard line that flipped the momentum completely. They scored the game-winner with sixty seconds left on the clock.
Final: McQueen 27, Sloan Canyon 20.
Small School Grit: 3A down to 1A
Don't sleep on the lower divisions. The 3A title game up at UNR was a slugfest between Churchill County (Fallon) and Moapa Valley. Fallon squeezed it out 21-14 with a touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was one of those old-school, muddy-uniform type of games where every yard felt like a mile.
Down in 2A, Needles proved too much for Pershing County, winning 22-12. And in the 8-man game (1A), the Pahranagat Valley Panthers reminded everyone why they are a dynasty. They dismantled Tonopah 32-6.
Why 2026 is Going to Look Totally Different
If you think you understand the playoff format, forget it. The NIAA basically tossed the old playbook out the window.
Starting in 2026, Southern Nevada is moving to a 10-team Open Division. They’re ditching the complex "HRM" points system that caused so much drama last year (there were a lot of complaints about how MaxPreps calculated rankings and a forfeited game that messed everything up).
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The new South Open Division will include:
- Bishop Gorman
- Liberty
- Arbor View
- Foothill
- Shadow Ridge
- Las Vegas High
- Desert Oasis
- Desert Pines
- Green Valley
- Faith Lutheran
These teams will play nine league games and only one non-league game. That’s a huge deal for a school like Bishop Gorman. Usually, they travel the country playing national powerhouses to get that #1 national ranking. Now? They might only have one shot at an out-of-state big dog.
It’s a gamble. The NIAA wants more "competitive balance," but critics say it just traps the best teams in a Southern Nevada bubble.
What This Means for Fans and Players
If you’re a player or a parent heading into the next cycle of the nevada high school football playoffs, the margin for error just got smaller. With only one non-league game, that "preseason" tune-up is basically gone. You have to be playoff-ready by Week 2.
For the Northern teams, the path stays somewhat similar, but the eventual cross-state showdowns are going to feel different. The "North vs. South" rivalry is at an all-time high after the 2025 sweep by McQueen and Spanish Springs.
Next Steps for 2026:
- Track the Schedule: Keep an eye on who Gorman schedules for that one precious non-league slot. If it's Mater Dei or St. John Bosco, that's the ticket of the year.
- Watch the 4A Realignment: With Sloan Canyon proving they belong, expect them to be the "hunted" team in the South.
- Gear up for Allegiant: The Raiders' stadium remains the home of the finals. If you want to see your team there, the road starts in August, but the season is won in the weight room right now.
The 2025 season was a reminder that rankings are just numbers on a screen. McQueen and Spanish Springs proved that heart and a good defensive scheme can topple "undefeated" giants any day of the week.