By DAVE BELCHER
Moapa Valley Progress
Back in 1991 Moapa Valley High School had a football team that many figured would struggle to say the least. They had come off a 4-5 season just the year before. They ranked third and were considered the underdogs throughout the season.
But that didn’t stop the players of ‘91. Fortified with hard work and an iron will, they set out to conquer all. Their offense became unstoppable and their defense proved unbeatable!
With this winning combination the team ended up winning Division and then going on on to take the ‘91 Nevada State Championship.
In the North, Tahoe Truckee and Bishop Manogue were the top two teams. Manogue had won the league title and the top seed.
This set up a matchup in Moapa Valley between the Pirates and Truckee. These two teams were destined to start a championship rivalry that would carry from then well into the new century.
Of course, it wasn’t the first time these two teams had battled. Back in 1982 Moapa Valley was undefeated as Truckee travelled to Overton and the old high school. At that time, Truckee had upset the Pirates in the semi-finals with a 19-13 win. That game was the first time the schools had ever met in football.
But in 1991 Truckee returned to the old Moapa Valley High School field. It was the final game ever played by the Pirates on the old field, which is now part of Mack Lyon Middle School. The new school would open a year later.
Truckee came to Moapa after besting a tough Lowry team in the week before. Truckee had beaten Lowry in the first game of the season and had finished the regular season 10-0. They were ranked as the #1 team in the state. Then they travelled to Moapa Valley.
The Wolverines flew to Las Vegas the morning of the game, then travelled by bus to the old high school to play a 1:00 pm game.
Truckee would only score one touchdown in the game; on an interception just before the end of the first half.
The Wolverines had an amazing place kicker in Damien Fertitta. He made a field goal that gave the Wolverines 10-7 lead in the third quarter.
The Pirates followed it up with a touchdown toward the end of the quarter, but missed the extra point.
In the final quarter, Truckee moved the ball down field for their final drive of the game. When they reached right around the twenty yard line of the Pirates, Fertitta missed a short field goal, wide right, giving the Pirates the win. The final score was 13-10.
That gave the Moapa team a ticket to Sam Boyd Stadium to face Lowry in the State Championships.
Lowry had gotten there by beating the reigning state champion Boulder City Eagles in a game that ended in dramatic fashion.
The Eagles had won the state championship the year before by beating Truckee in California, where the state championship game was played. Interestingly, that was the last time that Boulder City won a state championship. In fact, they haven’t even been close since.
In their ‘91 game against Lowry, the Eagles had scored to take the lead, very late in the fourth quarter. Then on the ensuing kick-off, Lowry returned the ball all the way to the end zone to win the game with no time remaining on the clock.
So that meant a matchup between Moapa and Lowry for the 1991 Nevada State Championship. The Pirates ended up shutting out Lowry 19-0 to win that.
The final game ended up being somewhat anti-climactic. Lowry never posed much of a threat to the Pirates. The Moapa defense controlled Lowry from the very.
It would be the first state title for head coach Nick Bowler; the first of two he would lead the Pirates to win.
During that 1991 football season the mighty Pirates proved that they were the mightiest. The MVHS Yearbook that year called that football season “The Reign of Terror: Taking the Season By Storm”.
“What was great about our going undefeated championship season was that no one had given us the respect we deserved and no one thought we could do half of what we did,” recalled Wayne Aston who played on the ‘91 squad. “So, when we took it all by storm, it was like saying ‘In your face’ to the world.”
There is much more that could be said about this team. They have endured themselves to the coaches and the fans. They have made us all a little more proud of who we are and where we live. They have worked hard to earn that respect and we thank them for allowing us to enjoy what they have done. Congratulations to those players for a perfect season.
Those who remember that team will remember the dominating defense that allowed fewer that fifty points on the season and never gave up a rushing touchdown.
That team was led by Carl Postma a dominating middle linebacker who was unstoppable as he controlled the opponent.
Toby Reed was the quarterback for much of the season. When he went down in the Laughlin game he was backed up by Ryan Waite who stepped in filling the spot very well.
Other team members included Kelby Robison, Casey Robison, Wayne Aston, Jeff Lamping, Nate Anderson, Josh Dominguez, Levi Gregory, Todd Tudor, Javier Ramos, Rick Bush, Jason Clark, Jerid Matheson, Gregor Mills, Rodney Gordon, Shane Stalie, Danny Cortez, Ryan Leavitt, Jason Hoyt, David Humes and Dave Watson.
Anyone with materials, information or suggestions about historic games that could be covered in this series please contact Dave Belcher at dabelch@mvdsl.com.
