Flag Football Makes It To Playoffs For 1st Time

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

Just six years old, the Moapa Valley High School Flag Football program has never before reached the postseason. But this year the blue and gold will get its chance.
But before the playoff fun could begin, the Pirates had two games to play last week that put a cap on their regular season.

The first game of the week was their last at home for the season. The Pirates took on the Chaparral Cowboys.

The Cowboys seemed to have Moapa’s number. After a poor start for the Pirates, the points kept piling on and eventually Chaparral walked away with a 39-0 victory. This dropped the Pirates to 4-11 on the season. But it didn’t affect their standing in the league at all.

Moapa Valley head coach Dave Belcher believes that lack of relevance in the big picture, combined with fatigue, led to the game’s result.

“That game meant absolutely nothing as far as playoffs, so I think the urgency wasn’t there at least in their minds,” Belcher said, “They played three games in four days the week before and they weren’t catching the balls or doing some of the basics. They just looked mentally exhausted.”

Two days later the team took on the Western Warriors, who have hung at the bottom of the league for most of this season. The Pirates defeated the Warriors 7-0. The lone touchdown came off of an Allyson Stewart pass to Lara Bingisser. Stewart has entered the quarterback picture in relief for opening day starter Graceann Erickson. Now used interchangeably, the two quarterbacks have impressed Coach Belcher.

“Graceann hurt her shoulder and sat out for two games and I decided that Allyson has been working hard, so I should use her to save their arms a bit. It’s been working well for us,” he explained.

Now officially in the playoff bracket, the Pirates captured the seventh seed in the 3A and will take on their rivals in the first game. The Pirates head to Mesquite to play the Bulldogs at Virgin Valley High School on Thursday, February 14, at 5:30 PM. In true Valentine’s Day fashion, sparks are sure to fly in this playoff match made in heaven.

The Pirates have met the Bulldogs three times this season already, two of those games being decided by less than one possession. “They’re confident and we had a good game against them the last time,” Belcher said. “If the girls come out focused, they’ve got a very good chance to beat them.”

As for who he expects to be the team’s x-factor, the third-year Moapa Valley head coach was unwilling to select just one of his players. “I’m hoping everyone is a big factor this week,” Belcher said. “They’ve all had great performances at one time or another.”

Belcher pointed out that he expects the Bulldog defense to key in on players like Lara Bingisser and Emma Eichhorn who have been consistent targets this year, so he expects a few underclassmen to rise to the occasion.

This week’s flag football game is likely the biggest one in the short history of the sport here in Moapa Valley.
“We know what they do, and they know what we do,” Belcher said. “It’s just a matter of who wants it the most.”