By Dave Belcher
Moapa Valley Progress
The northern 3A this year has changed with the number of teams playing in the league. Added were Elko, South Tahoe and Fallon. Wooster has also dropped to play as an independent in the northern 3A league. This makes every game a league game in the north.
The Southern 3A didn’t change therefore they only have two league games each. The south has been tied into the 4A schools in Vegas. This steps up the level of competition for the south preparing the southern champion for the playoffs with stiffer competition.
The south will only have one representative this year meaning the top two teams will be playing a playoff at the end of the regular season (1st weekend in November). The 3rd place team’s season will end in October. This gives the chance of back to back games with Virgin Valley, if both schools are 1st and 2nd in the league. The #1 seed will host this game according to the NIAA bracket.
The winner of the playoff will then represent the south and host a semi-final game with the north’s 3rd seed in the State playoffs.
The north will have six teams in the battle for the title. In the north the playoffs will have 1 vs. 6, 2 vs. 5, and 3 vs. 4. The northern 1st and 2nd seeds would then meet in that semi-final.
The highest seed left hosting that game. The winners square off somewhere in Las Vegas (probably Arbor View High School) for the State Championship.
So the next question is who are the favorites? The talk in Truckee this season will be about big Ben Bolton the QB for the Wolverines. Bolton is a 6-3 200 pound senior who lead the Wolverines to the State Title last year. He completed 66% of his passes for 2,085 yards while throwing 28 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Leading rusher returning is Cole Roberts a 5’8″ 190 pound Sr. who rushed for 267 yards and had four TD’s. James Depew a 6’2″ 200 pound Sr. with 19 catches for 564 yards and 11 TD’s last year, will be the leading receiver for Truckee. Truckee finished 12-0 for the season last year. Bolton attended three camps this summer in preparation for this season.
Truckee is the favorite to win the title again this season as they are loaded with talent. Ben Bolton, Sr., QB; Colin Christian, Sr., RB/LB; James De Pew, Sr., TE/DE; Trevor Houghton, Sr., OG/DT; Fisher, Sr., C/DE; Mitch Nelson, Sr., WB/DB; Morgan Nevin, Sr., LB/FB; Cole Roberts, Jr., LB/FB; Tony Rodriguez, Sr., WR/FS; Dillon Sheedy, Sr., OT/DT; Taylor Wulff-Morrison, Sr., OG.
The team ranked 2nd at this time by Max Preps is actually the Lowry Buckaroos of Winnemucca. Last year, the Buckaroos ended the season 6-4 and 3rd in the league at 4-2. They averaged 31 points a game giving up 29. Lowry was lead by QB Jace Billingsley a 5’7″ 145 pound So. State wrestling champ who lead the team in rushing with 925 yards and 5 TD’s. He also threw for 1100 yards 16 TD’s and 10 interceptions.
Last season was the Buckaroos’ first winning season since 2004 when they were 5-5. They are 19-43 since 2004. They were beaten 22-19 last year by Fernley in the Division playoff.
Others to watch are Joel Barton the leading running back from last season with 595 yards and 8 TD’s. Sean Millikan a 6’5″ 235 pound Sr. had 275 yards receiving and 6 TD’s. Blain Case also returns. The 6 foot, 170 pound Sr. had 136 yards receiving and 4 TD’s.
The Pirates of Moapa Valley are ranked 3rd at this time.
Here is my prediction. Moapa and Truckee will three-peat the match up in the State finals. If Moapa’s lackluster performance of last year happens again Truckee wins hands down. But I feel the Pirates are being underrated big time because of the personnel they lost last season. The home team has a lot of motivation because of the way the last season ended.
I feel the Pirates can win it all especially with the State game taking place in Las Vegas and Moapa Valley traditionally emptying out to show support at the game.
