By DAVE BELCHER
Moapa Valley Progress
It seems safe to say that the plan of giving the weaker 4A schools a chance to win a state championship; to help with student athletic participation and to help build school morale; has been accomplished. But it has been accomplished at the expense of the members of the original 3A league.
Las Vegas schools of 2,000 to 3,000 plus enrollment has now swept the football playoffs. Desert Pines and Mojave will compete in the state championship game on Saturday at 1:00 PM on the field of defending state and national champion Bishop Gorman High School in Summerlin.
Mojave at Fernley
Mojave High School, with an enrollment of 2,311 students, travelled to Fernley High School, with an enrollment of 951 students. Not surprisingly the larger school came away with a 42-13 win over the Vaqueros last Saturday.
Mojave was led by Tawee Walker, who has been vocal in the Vegas media about his talents and desires of being the best runningback in Nevada. Walker didn’t waste much time. The Rattlers scored their first touchdown midway through the first quarter when Walker scored from a yard away and, following a two-point conversion, led 8-0.
It would be Walkers only touchdown of the game. Mojave would score twice in the second quarter. The first after John Harper caught a pass from Quarterback Xavier DeLong five seconds in the second quarter giving Mojave a 14-0 lead. Five minutes later Noah Thompson found the endzone when Mojave, known for the running ability, caught a 44 yard pass from DeLong then completed a two-point conversion to Harper for a 22-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Mojave spread some icing on their semi-final cake when they scored by Quincy Smith finishing the first drive of the second half for the Rattlers with a 14-yard run for a 28-0 lead.
Fernley finally scored when, in desperation, quarterback Zach Burns found an open Cameron Bertok for a 52-yard pass with 5:23 to play in the third quarter.
Mojave would add two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The first was a Thompson run of 44-yards with a little over eight minutes to play. The final one was a 99-yard interception returned for a touchdown with 4:32 to play by Harper. And that slammed the door in Fernley’s face.
The Vaqueros finished their season with quarterback Burns scoring on a 14-yard run with :46 seconds remaining for the final score, 42-13.
Walker, a junior, was shut down in this game as he carried the ball 16 times for a grand total of 69 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback DeLong ran the ball 9 times for 70 yards while Thompson led the Rattlers with 96 yards rushing, two touchdowns on four carries.
Aaron Proctor led Fernley on the ground with nine carries for 48 yards. Zach Burns finished with 155 yards passing with two touchdowns and one interception. He was 12-24 passing.
As a team, Mojave had 330 yards of total offense with 282 yards rushing and 48 yards passing. Fernley had 274 yards of total offense with 119 yards rushing and 155 yards passing.
Mojave will be playing for their first small school state championship against Sunset champion, and the defending small school state football champion, Desert Pines.
Spring Creek at Desert Pines
This game is a rematch of last year’s small school state championship football game. And it pretty much finished like last year. Desert Pines beat Spring Creek, 50-28, last Saturday.
Desert Pines started the game with Michael Lofton breaking a 47-yard touchdown run with just over five minutes to play in the first quarter. He scored again four minutes later from five yards away. After the 2-point conversion failed, the Jaguars led 13-0 headed into the second quarter.
Spring Creek stepped it up and gave the Jaguars a huge score when the Spartans scored on a 73-yard pass from quarterback Thomas Ledford to Dakota Larson midway through the second quarter. The Spartans took the lead when Ledford found Jason Painter open and scored on a 77-yard pass play waking the Jaguars up. Three minutes later, Desert Pines regained the lead for good when Jyden King scored on a 28-yard run. A minute and a half later King scored again when he caught a pass from Tyler Williams for a forty-yard touchdown with 1:34 to play in the first half. Desert Pines lead 27-14 at halftime.
Spring Creek started the second half with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jake Oliphant from Ledford with 7:18 to play for the only score in the third quarter by any team. It cut the lead to 27-21.
Desert Pines then came to life. Jarred Numo kicked a 29-yard field goal followed by a 1-yard touchdown run 58 seconds later. King then scored on the next Desert Pines series from 4-yards away with 7:09 to play in the game.
Spring Creek scored their final touchdown of the season when quarterback Ledford ran for a 3-yard touchdown with 11 seconds remaining in the game.
On the ensuing kick-off, which was an onside kick, Darnell Washington caught the kick and returned the ball 50-yards for the touchdown with no time remaining on the clock for the final score 50-28.
Spring Creek finished with 342 yards of total offense: 118 yards rushing, 224 yards passing. Desert Pines finished with 255 yards of total offense: 154 yards rushing and 101 yards passing.
Jason Painter ran for 94 yards for the Spartans while Dakota Larson finished with 113 yards receiving with a touchdown. Ledford finished with 224 yards passing for three touchdowns with 1one interception on 12-24 passing.
Desert Pines was led by Lofton on the ground with 86 yards rushing on 13 carries scoring three times. King finished with 73 yards rushing scoring twice. King also scored on one catch.
This Saturday at Bishop Gorman high school Desert Pines will play Mojave.
In the game previously played this season, the Jaguars beat the Rattlers 35-6. Desert Pines built a 28-0 lead before the Rattlers scored midway through the fourth quarter. Game time is 1PM. This game was scheduled to be played in the north this year. But since no northern team will be playing the game will be held in the south.
