LAS VEGAS >> He is a redshirt freshman quarterback who was a record-setter for a state high school powerhouse and is now trying to hang onto the starting job at the hometown college.

The University of Hawaii’s Chevan Cordeiro?

Could be. But the description also fits his opposite number of sorts, Kenyon Oblad, at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Welcome to the young and the relentless, the intriguing showdown within the Ninth Island Showdown today at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Just as Cordeiro, a Saint Louis School graduate, took an opportunity and ran — and passed — with it last week for the Rainbow Warriors, so, too, is Oblad trying to do the same for the Rebels this season.

Oblad, a 6-foot, 3-inch, 190 pounder from Liberty High in nearby Henderson, Nev., where he set state passing records, jumped into the starting lineup for the Rebels four games ago after their franchise quarterback, junior Armani Rogers, went down with a knee injury.

Oblad led UNLV to one of its signature victories in several years last month in Nashville, Tenn., 34-10, where the Rebels were 15.5-point underdogs at Vanderbilt.

Rogers has been back, practicing for more than a week, but Oblad is listed as the expected starter today. How long Oblad remains running the show will likely be dependent on what he does with the opportunity against the ’Bows, especially early.

Meanwhile, Cordeiro is expected to get the start for UH having earned the nod with a near flawless performance in guiding the ’Bows to a 42-40 victory over San Jose State.

Cordeiro’s ability to hold onto the position will also be subject to his performance as junior Cole McDonald waits in the wings for an opportunity to win back the starting job he lost at the end of the Fresno State game two weeks ago.

Head coach Nick Rolovich has shown a willingness to make mid-game changes at quarterback and McDonald, who is among the nation’s passing leaders and conference’s most productive offensive players, would be hard to keep on the bench if the offense bogs down.

The Warriors arrived here as 7-point favorites and with all they have at stake, there is little room for error. At 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the Mountain West, they become bowl eligible with a seventh victory. What’s more, they are still mathematically in the running for the West Division title, which would end with a fourth conference loss.

Those kind of goals are no longer reachable for the 2-7 (0-5 MWC) Rebels. But, depending on how they finish the season — and they have three games remaining, including the Fremont Cannon rivalry with Nevada — they might be able to save the job of their head coach, Tony Sanchez.

The expectation before this, Sanchez’s fifth season, was that the Rebels needed to reach bowl eligibility. Athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois, who did not hire Sanchez, had said, “We are looking forward to a successful 2019 football season, including bowl eligibility.”

That ended two weeks ago for the Rebels. But Sanchez was a key figure in helping to get the fundraising going on the $34.8 million, 73,000-square foot Fertitta Football Complex that opened last month. The Fertitta family, a strong backer of Sanchez since his high school coaching days, donated the initial $10 million.

So, starting jobs are only part of what might be on the line when these two redshirt freshmen quarterbacks hook up today.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.