Pirates Fall To Bulldogs In Round One Of Playoffs

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

For the first time in the program’s history, the Moapa Valley High School Flag Football team stepped onto the field for the playoffs last Thursday night. Sneaking into the playoff picture as the seventh seed, the Pirates were pitted against their rivals, the second seeded Virgin Valley Bulldogs. Just weeks earlier, the Pirates lost to Virgin Valley on a touchdown with just a minute remaining. This time around, they hoped for different results.

Moapa was optimistic early on, as Jerzi Anderson found daylight on just the second offensive play for the Pirates. Anderson took the ball up the right sideline for 28 yards and was barely caught before turning the corner towards the endzone. Unfortunately for the Pirates, that drive stalled out, and it would be one of the few offensive drives with positive yardage throughout the game.

Luckily for Moapa Valley, their defense held its own from start to finish. The Bulldogs scored with five minutes left in the first quarter, but would be held to only a few first downs for the rest of the game.

One of those first downs came with four minutes left in the second quarter, as a Bulldog runner broke free around the left side and saw nothing but open field in her path. But out of nowhere, sophomore Hannah Watson dove to pull her flag. Watson, just pulled up from the JV team a week earlier, stole the show in her first varsity action.

Watson finished with sixteen flag pulls, and even tallied a sack where she had to evade three Bulldog pass blockers. She joked about how she felt when she found out she’d be playing on varsity. “I wasn’t excited for the extra practices, but it was still a fun experience!” she said.

Watson and the rest of the defense stayed strong in the second half, with the score still at 6-0. Hailey Williams (nine flag pulls), Skotlyn Hill (eight flag pulls), and Elena Ramirez (seven flag pulls), helped put together an impressive defensive performance.

But the offense continued to stall. Dropped passes became an issue, and were only multiplied by the downpour that took place just ten minutes before the game’s start time. The Pirates combined for just five pass completions in the game.

With twelve minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs scored again after an exhausted Pirate defense finally folded on fourth down. Trailing 12-0, the offense still couldn’t find their footing, both figuratively and literally, on the slippery and muddy playing surface. When the final buzzer sounded, the Pirates fell 12-0, finishing with just 95 total offensive yards.

The Moapa team will lose nearly ten foreign exchange students, and five seniors after this season. Elena Ramirez, a two year starter for the Pirates in the defensive backfield, was visibly upset about playing her last game as the team gathered for one final group hug.

Junior Coy Overson, who plays both offense and defense, said of this year’s team, “I will definitely remember the friendships and great memories. Having those amazing girls by my side was such a blessing and I’m going to miss the seniors and foreign exchange students so much.”

While looking back and reminiscing, Overson also looked forward with confidence. “I expect for us to keep working and take the championship next year!” she said.
After making it to the postseason for the first time in team history, and returning many of their starters, it’s possible the Moapa Valley flag football program has found it’s path in the right direction. If everything comes together once again, last week’s game might not be the last time fans see this young group of Pirates in the playoffs.