By GANNON HANEVOLD
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Flag Football team had a busy start last week, a positive sign for a team with little football experience. Additionally, the team was able to find success, winning two of their first five games and proving they are a force to be reckoned with this year.
The Pirates started the week with a trip into Las Vegas to take on the Spring Valley Grizzlies. Sophomore Jerzi Anderson took charge and led the team in their first game. Anderson would rush all over the Grizzlies’ defense, with two touchdowns of over fifty yards in the game.
Leading 12-6, the Pirates iced the game thanks to freshman Alexis Gould intercepting a Spring Valley pass and returning it over sixty yards for a Pirate touchdown. The final score would be 18-6 and the Pirates started their season 1-0.
Two days later, the Pirates traveled into the city once more to take on Durango. Durango came with a gameplan that made the Pirates struggle.
“Durango lines up in a tight shoulder to shoulder formation and they ran us over,” said Pirate head coach Dave Belcher.
That running game of the Trailblazers paved the way to a 36-0 Pirate loss. Tatiana Baes rushed for ninety yards and two scores while a Melisa Custillo interception led the Durango defense.
Just a day later, the Pirates traveled once more. This time, the team headed into Mesquite for the annual Mesquite Cup tournament. Historically, the Pirates have struggled at this tournament, thanks to equal parts tough competition and a challenging bracket. This year, they looked to turn the tide.
The Pirates’ first game came against the Legacy Longhorns, who had defeated the Durango Trailblazers earlier in the week. Based off of common competition, this appeared to be a tough matchup for the young and inexperienced Pirates. But they were able to surprise and impress their fans in the first game of the tournament.
Two receiving touchdowns by Lara Bingisser for 93 yards through the air led the team offensively. Graceann Erickson threw for 118 yards total.
Defensively, it would be Skotlyn Hill who led the Pirates with a key interception.
All in all, Moapa defeated the Longhorns 12-6 and moved onto the next round on Saturday.
There, the team took on the rival Virgin Valley. In the past, the Bulldogs have been a premier contender in the Southern region. So the Pirates looked to prove they belonged in that category as well.
Moapa Valley demonstrated a determined attitude by staying close in the game, and according to Coach Belcher, “giving the Bulldogs fits”. The Pirates would fall 13-6.
The Pirates finished their weekend with one more matchup with the Legacy Longhorns. This time, Jerzi Anderson arrived once again after her big game earlier in the week with another long touchdown run to make it 6-6 in the first half.
From there going forward, however, Legacy handled the Pirates. A controversial touchdown pass in the back of the endzone provided momentum for a string of Longhorns touchdowns following. Legacy would run away with the victory and the Pirates fell in their final game of the tournament.
Nevertheless, Belcher exclaimed optimism for the rest of this season. “This is the best team I have coached since I have started and we should go far in the playoffs this year,” he said.
The Pirates hope to prove that with tough games still ahead on the schedule.
