Everything appears to be coming together at the right time for the Centennial football team.

That was evident in Centennial’s playoff game Oct. 30, which played into a wild, upset-filled opening round of the postseason.

Centennial, the No. 8 seed in the Class 5A Southern Region playoffs, upset No. 1 Shadow Ridge 43-27 in a region quarterfinal. That was one of six games in the 5A and 4A playoffs in which the lower-seeded team won.

“It was a big morale boost for the boys last week,” Centennial coach DJ Campbell said. “It was the first time that we actually put it together in all three phases. For the boys to actually see it come together the way it did, it gave them a sigh of relief that we can actually do this.”

The Bulldogs (6-4) will play at No. 5 Green Valley (6-4) at 6 p.m. Friday in a 5A Southern Region semifinal. The winner will advance to the region title game and be one step closer to playing in the 5A state title game Nov. 25 at Allegiant Stadium.

Postseason pedigree

Playing in playoff games isn’t anything new for Centennial. The Bulldogs won the 4A state title in 2023 and claimed the 5A Division III title last season. Campbell, in his third year leading Centennial, is 7-0 in the postseason.

This year’s season for Centennial has mirrored 2024. Last year, Centennial started 1-5 and won its final three regular-season games to claim the Southern League title. The Bulldogs ended the year on a six-game winning streak.

With a handful of juniors and seniors who played on those title-winning teams, Campbell said experience has helped everyone handle the “frustrations” felt throughout the season.

“It’s big for us to be able to maintain composure and not let the moment get too big because we’ve been in such big moments of the last few years. … They’ve been through the fire, so they know exactly what it takes to be successful,” said Campbell, who was a standout at Cheyenne High, played college football at Cal and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers.

Sophomore steps up

Centennial was the final team to make the 5A Southern Region playoffs, coming in at No. 12 in the NIAA’s final 5A HRM rankings to get the No. 8 seed.

The Shadow Ridge game was the second start at quarterback for Nehemiah Dunlap-Myvett. The sophomore helped the Bulldogs pull through, throwing two touchdowns and rushing for 127 yards and a score.

Campbell said Dunlap-Myvett’s “competitiveness” has rubbed off on the rest of the team the past few weeks following Centennial’s 27-16 loss to Mojave on Oct. 17.

“He was practicing at corner the entire week (leading up to the Mojave game) and then next thing you know, he’s starting at quarterback,” Campbell said. “He doesn’t care. He just wants to help the team win at all costs.”

Centennial held Shadow Ridge to 182 rushing yards and recovered four fumbles against a Mustangs team that was an early favorite to win the Southern Region title.

“It’s mixing that talent with preparation and the grit and the grind and everything,” Campbell said. “That’s why this past Thursday against Shadow Ridge was so rewarding, because the talent matched with the preparation, it matched with the intensity, and we had a big win.”

‘No week off’

Now the attention turns to Green Valley, which won at No. 4 Desert Pines 23-21 in another region quarterfinal. No. 2 Las Vegas High (10-1) will host No. 6 Faith Lutheran in the other region semifinal.

Faith Lutheran (4-7) upset No. 3 Desert Oasis 35-8 in the quarterfinals after losing to Desert Oasis in the regular season and finishing 3-7.

Bishop Gorman, Liberty and Arbor View, which all will play in the Open Division state tournament along with Foothill on Nov. 14, have separated themselves from the rest of the competition in 5A.

The opening-round playoff results showed how close the rest of the competition was in 5A.

“Any given week, anybody can show up and anybody can win,” Campbell said. “You had a team like Faith Lutheran in their division, had only won three games going into the playoffs, the chips just may not have fallen for them in certain games, but Faith Lutheran is rolling right now. I like it, because it’s forcing you to play every week. There is no week off.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.