By DAVE BELCHER
Moapa Valley Progress
Normally when a high school football team played at Sam Boyd Stadium it was the state championship game. But on Saturday, Sept. 28, the Moapa Valley High School Football team travelled to Sam Boyd Stadium where they played against host team Rancho. It was the first league game of the season for both teams. A small, quiet crowd followed the Pirates to Henderson for the Saturday afternoon game.
Rancho came into the game with a 1-4 record overall having just lost the rivalry “Bone Game” to Las Vegas the week prior. The Pirates, on the other hand, were still feeling last week’s loss at Cheyenne. Many hoped that loss would be the wake up call that the Pirates needed to move them forward.
The Pirates got a decisive win against Rancho with a score of 19-7. But whether the wake up was effective; well, that is still to be determined.
“You would think that playing in Sam Boyd would motivate the kids into playing with energy,” said Head Coach Brent Lewis after the game. “I don’t know. We don’t have a 50 yard big play guy like we have had in the past. We have to grind it out. The kids are frustrated, coaches are frustrated. We need to find a way to motivate them.”
After going into the locker room at halftime Saturday, the coaching staff came out led by Lewis with 9:00 minutes of the break left. That left the team to try and figure it out.
It appeared to work. The Pirates scored twice in the third quarter to get some separation from the Rams.
Earlier in the game, Moapa Valley had scored on their first possession after receiving the kick off when Steele Skinner finished the drive with a 1-yard run 5:09 in the quarter. Justin Profitt missed the extra point for a 6-0 Pirate lead.
But it was a rough start to the game. Players seemed to be disoriented, lining up wrong. They were in the wrong formation time and time again.
But that 6-0 lead carried over to halftime. And in the third quarter, Moapa Valley finally started to move the ball.
Hayden Redd scored with 8:00 minutes to play in the third quarter with an 18-yard run. Profitt made the extra point for a 13-0 lead.
Holding Rancho, Moapa Valley put together the last scoring drive. Jayme Carvajal ended it with a 4-yard run. Proffitt missed for a 19-0 lead with 3:47 to play in the third.
Rancho would get its only touchdown when quarterback Ruben Vasquez found his receiver down the Rancho sideline for a 67-yard touchdown catch and run. With the extra point the final score was 19-7.
Redd finished with 118-yards rushing and a touchdown. Russell Bodily finished with 90 yards rushing. The Pirates finished with 224-yards rushing.
Quarterback Cameron Reese was sacked four times for a loss of 24 yards total. Redd finished with three receptions for 54-yards total. Reese finished with 125-yards. Carson Traasdahl had three sacks for the Pirates.
Next week the Moapa team will travel to Las Vegas for the final game of a long four game road trip. They will play Sunrise Mountain who beat SLAM last Friday night 53-26 in their first league game of the season. The Miners are 2-3 overall and 1-0 in league play. Demaurier Alexander ran for 220-yards and three touchdowns for the Miners.
