Oblad’s career winding down
Record-setting Liberty QB eyes Sunrise title, college commitment
Liberty senior quarterback Kenyon Oblad initially didn’t believe his four-year high-school career would conclude in a hurry.
He does now.
Oblad is set to make his final start at Liberty High School on Friday against Green Valley in the Class 4A Sunrise Region championship game. He’s in the process of putting the finishing touches on a storied career that started when he was 14.
The finality is starting to set in for Oblad, who became the starter as a freshman and set the state record for career passing yards earlier this season.
“It’s gone by really fast but I’ve enjoyed my team here and it’s been great memories that I made,” Oblad said.
The Liberty-green Valley winner advances to the state semifinals where it will meet the Sunset Region champ, either Bishop Gorman or Arbor View.
Liberty coach Rich Muraco remembered when Oblad was a “skinny, scared little 14-year old with big, bright eyes” without a varsity completion to his name.
He passed for 2,240 yards and 16 touchdowns as a freshman. He earned the attention of NCAA Division I programs after a sophomore season in which he passed for 3,106 yards and 34 TDS.
The numbers piled up, and so did the scholarship offers. But Oblad, who hasn’t announced a commitment, didn’t procure the offers from the Power Five programs he’d hoped for despite his success.
“That’s why he didn’t commit to some of the offers he had early,” Muraco said. “As that realization has kind of come that he’s not going to get those offers, he’s kind of focused in on what’s going to be best for him.”
Which is either Western Kentucky or UNLV.
Oblad visited the Hilltoppers in October and has an official visit with the Rebels scheduled in December after the end of the football season. He’s eligible to graduate early, and could enroll in January if he chooses UNLV.
He’d most likely have to wait until the spring for Western Kentucky.
Oblad said he wants to decide “pretty quickly” and said the school he chooses will get someone “who can sit back in the pocket and deliver balls.
“I feel like I have as good an arm as anybody in the country,” he said. “I can go in there as a young kid and play against older kids. I can go in there and be a great leader.”
Muraco is hoping Oblad picks UNLV so he can watch him play at the new $1.9 billion stadium — for which ground was broken Monday — that will house both the Raiders and the Rebels.
But in any event, he’s going to enjoy coaching Oblad for what’s left of his high school football career.
“It’s something as a head coach, you don’t know if you’ll have the opportunity to have a kid be a four-year starter for you,” Muraco said. “Who knows if I’ll ever have another kid like Kenyon.”
Clark, Gorman ranked nationally
Clark and Bishop Gorman didn’t crack the USA Today Super boys basketball 25 preseason rankings, but they’re among the top 50, according to ballislife.com.
The hoops website unveiled its top 50 teams last week, and the Chargers checked in at No. 35 while the Gaels are No. 48.
Basketball practice started last weekend in Southern Nevada.
Contact reporter Sam Gordon at Follow @Bysamgordon on Twitter.
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