Coral Academy makes first-ever football state semifinal appearance

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - There’s no denying this is the best football team in Coral Academy history.

The Falcons beat West Wendover to advance to the state semifinal this week.

Their journey to get here, though, was unique. As the only Reno-based 2A North team, the Falcons are well traveled, traveling to West Wendover and Pershing County in league play. And to add to it, they don’t have a home field.

“It’s a chore for sure to not have our own facility. You know, practicing at a city park, not having the ability to have sleds, and you know everything that we practice with. The equipment stays in the the cab of my truck and the back of other coaches’ cars and vehicles, and so we bring our own stuff to the park every day. Luckily, Wooster was gracious enough to let us use their facility now with the with the time change and the sun going down before practice time is over,” head coach Adam Barrett said.

“It’s a weird feeling, you know. Not many people know what it’s like to be on the road like us. It’s it’s unique to us. It’s it’s honestly a blessing though. You know, always going on the road, always underdog in certain teams, but we always come on top,” senior running back Devin Salsby said.

Coral Academy got hot at the right time. The Falcons have now won six in a row and have a high-powered offense that runs primarily through the ground game, highlighted by Santiago Gonzalez and Salsby.

Next up for this week’s state semifinal is yet another long road trip to face perennial 2A contender Lincoln County, and the Falcons are ready for the small-town football environment.

“My very first time playing Lincoln County, so it’s I know it’ll be a great experience traveling up there again, see the new atmosphere. Small town, of course, you’re going to have all those people there. We’ve seen it in film. They fill their fields with a lot of launchers and stuff like that,” Gonzalez said.

Coral is just one win away from something that wasn’t even imaginable not too long ago: a state championship appearance hosted in the northern part of the state.