By Dave Belcher

Moapa Valley Progress

MVHS Football players spent the week in drills and practice during a Football Camp held in Fillmore Utah last week.

Can you feel it? Can you feel the yearning of Friday night lights live in Moapa Valley? We are only about a month away from quenching the thirst for High School football.

Seventy-five local young men started the process for the state title as they packed up and traveled to Fillmore Utah last week where they refreshed their memories of the offense and defense preparing for the upcoming season.

It’s going to be a bigger challenge this year as the league has now grown from 13 teams to 21 and is joined by several new schools. Much has been said about the realignment as whining and crying has taken place. Much more will be argued and discuss about it throughout the season and upcoming year in the battle for competitive fairness which the Clark County School District is looking for.

Despite all this, Moapa Valley is up and running as they are preparing to continue to resume their spot on top of the league and playing for a state title.

At football camp in Fillmore, the Pirates had 17 freshman, 16 sophomores and 36 Varsity players working the fields. It was a great turn out.

The MVHS coaching staffs went through the basics reminding the players of responsibilities for each position. The first night was a little rough as the concepts were rusty. But as the week progressed pieces fell into place and the Pirates began to control their opponents.

“This is going to be a great season for all three teams this year,” said freshman head coach Brent May. “All three teams began to roll as the week moved along.”

There is much to look forward to this season as the Pirates will return many from last season’s team. That experience will play a huge part in the success of this year’s team.

The three other schools that were at the camp were host school Millard High School who is a 2A power in Utah having won several state titles over the years. Coach Jeff Keel is from Fillmore and attended Millard High School. Beaver Utah was there as well as Gunnison High School. Each day the teams would scrimmage each other getting a lot of reps on both sides of the ball.

Much is expected this season as the Pirate team will have to step up. Once the season starts there will be no breaks.

The first game is on August 18 in Glendale Arizona against the defending Arizona State champion Blue Ridge High School who beat archrival Show Low for the title. Show Low was the team Moapa beat in their first game last year and was the first Nevada team to win in the Sollenberger classic. There are no byes this season so any injuries will play a huge factor in the outcome.

Practice will officially start at 12:00 AM August 2 in the annual Moapa Valley boot camp. The season will hopefully end November 17 in Las Vegas with a state title. It will surely be a great ride.