By Dave Belcher

Moapa Valley Progress

When the Moapa Valley High School Varsity football team left the valley on Thursday, they knew they were in for an adventure.

Frankly the team was overjoyed and feeling fortunate to even get a crack at it: a three night stay at a five star hotel, a banquet, press conferences and news coverage and a tour of an NFL stadium at the University of Phoenix where they had been invited to play in the Sollenberger Classic.

The Pirates filled a spot that was originally offered to Truckee High School the two time defending state champion. Truckee turned down the game due to lack of experience. Truckee’s Coach Shaffer felt that the team who really deserved to go had graduated last year.

And so the stage was set. The Pirates were travelling to Arizona to play in a game which had been set up with no other purpose but to showcase the Show Low Cougars and their high powered offense.

But somehow the unthinkable happened. On Saturday afternoon those Moapa Valley Pirates accomplished something that no team in Nevada had ever done before them. They beat an Arizona team in the prestigious Sollenberger classic. The Pirates beat Show Low High School 28-26. The highly favored team, Show Low, was actually upset by the Nevada State Runner ups.

Of course, that was not in the script. Show Low featured Josh Weeks a top five receiver in the nation and the best athlete on the field. He demonstrated that, not only in receiving, but also in one drive where he played quarter back in the wildcat formation as well as in three carries scored the third of his three touch downs.

This game demonstrated that the rankings don’t mean a thing. Show Low was ranked in the top 450 nationally while the Pirates were ranked on within the top 5,500 nationally. Who cares? What was proven was that the Pirate defense made some huge plays. Meanwhile, the offense force fed the ball with the domination of their offensive line and four back attack lead by Sean McConnell’s 83 yards and two touch downs.

The Pirates were slow at the starting gate. Show Low came out and scored two touchdowns within the first seven minutes of the game. The first on the first series of the game when Weeks ran untouched on the reverse from 17 yards out.

The second came after the Pirates fell a yard short on 4th and 3 at the Show Low 43. Wynn, the Cougar quarterback, hit Weeks for a 59 yard touchdown as he was found past the Pirate secondary and ran untouched for a second score with 5:07 left in the first quarter. But the Cougars missed the extra point which would prove crucial later.

The Pirates didn’t give up, though. All of Show Low kick offs were ground balls not making it past the second row and giving Moapa good field position all day long.

The key play came when quarterback Dakota Waters hit Shane Terrill over the middle for 14 yards and a first down on 4th and 8 from the 36 of Show Low. Mortensen took the ball 9 yards; and then 10 more yards to the three.

McConnell finished the drive with a three yard run and touchdown with 1:26 left in the first quarter.

Moapa started their third drive from the fifty yard line following a punt which went off the side of the punters foot. The Pirates punted three plays later to the fifteen yard line.

A flag was thrown when Weeks didn’t have room to receive the ball. For some reason the penalty was declined and the Cougars started at their own 15 and then 3 and out.

Another Show Low punt followed which gave the ball to the Pirates at the Show Low 45.

McConnell then dropped a lateral giving the ball back to the Cougars where Weeks took over in wildcat formation and three plays later the Cougars were up 20-7.

The Pirates final score of the half came from Kasen Hughes when, from the full back position, he pile-drove through the defense and fell over the line for the score from two yards out. Hughes set up the play with a scamper on a middle screen to the 2. The previous play before the screen was a pass interference call putting the ball at the 18. It was 20-14 at the half.

To start the third quarter, Moapa received the squib kick then proceeded on a 13 play seven minute drive ending when Jacob Rebman caught a Nebraska pass for the tying touchdown from Waters. The extra point gave the Pirates the lead.

Show Low was now wearing down.

The Pirates final score came after the Cougars went for it on 4th and 10. Kasen Hughes sacked Wynn for a 14 yard loss at the Show Low 32. McConnell then found a huge hole off the left tackle and sprinted untouched 32 yards for the score. The extra point gave Moapa a 28-20 lead with 3:46 to play in the game.

Show Low came back. The Pirates pouch kicked the ball in an open spot. Tenny of the Cougars dived on it.

A swing pass behind the line was incomplete, but live so it was marked out at the 24. An eight yard loss.

A screen pass was thrown to Weeks who took the ball to the 43 for a first down.

The Pirate defense was holding and on 4-4 from the Pirate 41 Weeks caught a pass and took it to the 12 for a first down.

It was 4th and goal from the 6 when Wynn found Johnson for the touchdown making the score 28-26.

The two point conversion fell short and Moapa still had the lead 28-26 with 1:07 left.

Show Low stacked the right side of the line for the kick off and on-sided it right into the arms of Chapman who fell to the ground covering the ball and clinching the Pirate win.

Victory formation twice with Watters kneeling down and it was final.

A loss for the Cougars and a celebration for the Pirates. The Pirates had shut down what had been called the best offense in Show Low history by the Cougars coach. The game which was supposed to be a showcase for this explosive offense and star player, Josh Weeks, only showed glimmers of the expectation.

Instead it showed some country boys from southern Nevada, giving everything they had and working hard, could bring home Nevada’s first Sollenberger classic win.

Josh Weeks had 219 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns in the first half. He finished with 329 for the game 105 rushing and 139 in receiving with the 3 tds.

The Pirates limited the Cougars to 111 yards in the second half. They also had the ball twice as long as the Cougars thanks to the 13 play third quarter. Watters was 4-7 for 125 yards and a touchdown. Conner Mortensen had 83 yards on 18 carries while Sean McConnell had 66 on ten carries.

“This win rates up there (with a state championship),” Coach Brent Lewis said after the game. “Coming in not being a state champion, we weren’t expected to win. I’m really proud of the entire effort.”