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MVHS Flag Football Win Two Narrow Victories

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

Jerzi Anderson runs the ball for the Pirates during a home game played on Dec. 5 against Valley. PHOTO BY KATELYN GARLICK/Moapa Valley Progress.

A defense unwilling to surrender many points or yards, and an offense that thrives on opportunity, combined last week to bring the Moapa Valley High School Flag Football team two critical victories and one narrow defeat.

The Pirates opened the week on Monday, Dec. 3, with a road game against Mojave. It was their first league game of the year.

Both teams struggled out of the gates. The stifling Moapa Valley defense held the Rattlers scoreless, and Hannah Williams forced a turnover by intercepting the Mojave quarterback.
On the other side of the ball, though, the Pirates struggled to get the offense rolling. Through three quarters, neither team had scored.

In the fourth quarter, a pair of Moapa Valley juniors connected to change that. Pirate quarterback Graceann Erickson completed a three yard pass to receiver Coy Overson in the endzone to make the score 6-0 in the game’s late stages.

The Moapa Valley defense held up their end of the bargain and the final score would remain 6-0. The Pirates started the season 1-0 and couldn’t be more thrilled.
“We were all so excited!” said Overson about the go-ahead score. “We love to cheer each other on and go crazy when one of us has a big moment so our team bond definitely has a big impact on what we get done on the field.”

The tightly knit Pirates followed up the exciting victory with another defensive battle in their home opener on Wednesday. Moapa Valley hosted the Valley Vikings on a chilly evening matchup.
Again, both sides played tough defense. The score remained 0-0 deep into the fourth quarter, when the action seemed to finally pick up.

Lara Bingisser picked up a fourth and long reception to keep a drive alive for the Pirates, but it eventually wound up stumped inside the 20 yard line. With a minute remaining, the Pirates were backed up to their own one yard line due to consecutive penalties.

Head coach Dave Belcher elected to ‘punt’ the ball on second down to avoid a go-ahead safety, giving the Vikings’ possession on their own 20.

The game eventually went to overtime, still 0-0. In overtime, both teams get an opportunity to score in four downs from the opponent’s twenty yard line. The Vikings took the ball first and the Moapa Valley defense remained impenetrable.

They held Valley scoreless. Now the Pirates needed just one score to win it. Erickson completed a pass to Bingisser for twelve yards on first down. Soon after, Erickson lobbed a pass to Lara Bingisser in the corner of the endzone for an eight yard walk-off touchdown. The final score was 6-0 once again and the Pirates moved to 2-0.

Moapa Valley hit the road once again to take on Sunrise Mountain on Friday. The running game came alive for the Pirates as Jerzi Anderson gave Moapa a 6-0 lead at halftime thanks to a long rushing score.

She’d score again in the second half, but a pair of Miners’ receiving touchdowns from Ruth Cano stole the show late in the game. That, alongside Hope Humes’ 176 yards on the ground for Sunrise Mountain, led to the Pirates’ first regular season loss. The Pirates dropped to 2-1 after the 13-12 defeat but know that they were quite competitive with the Miners.

Coy Overson, the hero from the season opener, described what makes this team so unique.
“We have a ton of hardworking and talented girls on our team this year who all love the game and love each other,” Overson said. “We all give a hundred percent to make ourselves and the team stronger.”

This week, the Pirates host the rival Boulder City Eagles on Wednesday and travel to Del Sol on Friday, hoping to keep this promising season sailing in the right direction.

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