Moapa Valley Progress
Under the bright lights of Hansen Stadium at Dixie State University, the sixth grade Pirate football team last week put the finishing touches on a strong season. It was only the team’s second year of competing against other teams from southern Utah and Mesquite in the USA football league. But the local team made their presence known.
After playing through a seven game regular season and winning most games, the Moapa Valley team had advanced to the playoffs in the top spot.
The first round of playoffs began at Dixie High School against a familiar foe in the Pine View Panthers. They had already fallen easily to the Pirates twice during the season.
The semi final game started slow for the Moapa squad with only one touchdown in the first half coming from Drake Staheli followed by an extra point pass to Trent Barlow. A Pirate turnover led to a last minute score for the Panthers resulting in a half time score of 8-6.
Back to true form in the second half the Pirates got four more scores from Anthony Cornwall, Dayton Wolfley, and Dalyn Leavitt, while Pine View was unable to find the end zone through the Moapa defense. Final score of 36-6.
With Desert Hills defeating Snow Canyon in their semi-final game, the Pirate team was ready to seal their storybook season.Still, this playoff game would prove to be a tough test for the home team.
Desert Hills was first with the ball in the championship game but had only one first down and 15 yards against a stingy Pirate defense.
The ball was then turned over on downs to the Pirates. Starting on their own 45, the offense was able to grind out a tough first quarter score by Dayton Wolfley behind great blocking from the offensive line, followed by an extra point.
The Thunder answered quickly with an unlikely kickoff return for a touchdown. Although they were not able to break through the Pirate defense on the point-after try.
In a hard hitting first half, controlled by defenses, the score at the break was 7-6.
In the third quarter Anthony Cornwall scooped up a Thunder fumble at mid-field and returned it for a touchdown to put the Pirates ahead 13-6.
With the Moapa defense holding strong, the Pirate offense struck pay dirt again in the beginning of the fourth quarter. A blocked punt on the Desert Hills 25, set the Pirates up for a 15 yard run by Cornwall around the left side to widen the gap to 19-6.
The Thunder were able to temporarily gain success on the ground and managed a 55 yard drive for a touchdown to bring the game to 19-13.
With their backs against the wall and three minutes on the clock, the Pirate team was able take control of the game and time ran out for the Desert Hills Thunder. The Pirates remained undefeated and became the season Champions.
The 6th Grade Junior Pirate team and coaches would like to thank the parents and sponsors of Moapa Valley for their contributions and support.
