Pirates Lose a Close One To Boulder City

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

With two rivals and recent powerhouses on the schedule, and the league season entering its hardest stretch, the Pirates flag football team looked to make a statement last week.

On the calendar were dates with Virgin Valley; who controls possession of the top spot in the league rankings; and Boulder City, a team that has been unstoppable in recent years. However, in both matchups, Moapa Valley brought their best to the table.

And early touchdown from MVHS senior Alexis Schraft, surprised the Bulldogs with a score that clearly stated that the team would not go unnoticed in this road trip.
However, the Bulldogs fought back and brought their usual scoring attack. They would pull off a 32-8 victory.

Schraft’s touchdown served as the Pirate highlight of an evening where she brought in six receptions for 109 yards. Moapa quarterback, Alex Peay, completed 16 out of 26 passes and tossed for 206 yards. It wasn’t what the Pirates were hoping for, but it showed signs of potential.
“I was very pleased with our play,” said Moapa head coach Dave Belcher. “We hadn’t played that well against them the last couple of years. We changed our defense a little bit and we knew we had to be more aggressive in order to compete. Now it’s just a matter of gaining a little confidence. We had Virgin Valley scared for a little while.”

The second game of the week came against a Boulder City Eagles team that traveled into Moapa Valley on Friday night and expected an easy road to victory.

Last season, when the two teams played, the Eagles put up a combined 66 points in the two meetings, while surrendering just one score from the Pirates side of the ball. This time around, it was a different story.

Early in the game, once again, the plan was to get the ball into the hands of Schraft. Following an interception by Jessica Leon, Schraft would catch an 11-yard touchdown in the back corner of the endzone off a high throw from Peay. With a 6-0 lead, the Pirates defense would prove to be stingy for the rest of the half, and all the way into the second half. Another interception by Leon, as well as one by Charitti Manis helped the Pirates find themselves holding onto that lead late in the game.

However, in the fourth quarter, the Eagles finally penetrated the seemingly impenetrable Pirates’ defense. They connected on a touchdown and one point conversion to take the lead and pulled what could have been a monumental upset victory from under the legs of the Pirates.

“It was a good game and we should have won it,” Belcher said. “A lack of confidence is probably the best way to describe it. It was very hard fought but offensively sometimes we couldn’t get things going.”
Looking forward, the Pirates hope to build confidence on the fact that they were one or two plays away from beating one of the top contenders in the division.

Belcher asserted his own personal confidence, saying, “We’ve got a long way to go but we’ve come a long way since the start of the year. With a little more aggression I think we will still make the playoffs.”
He also addressed the importance of the last week and how good this year’s team just might be. Belcher added, “This team is the best team we’ve had athletically. Our biggest weakness is our inexperience. This last week showed just what kind of a team we can be. I’m really happy with the way they’ve worked.”