MVHS Football Opens With Scrimmage Vs. Gorman

By DAVE BELCHER

The Progress

Though it seems odd as a springtime activity, high school football is back for a whirlwind abbreviated season.

The Moapa Valley High School Football team, which has been in practice for about three weeks now, made their first, albeit informal, field appearance on Saturday, March 6.

The Pirates travelled to Las Vegas on Saturday evening where they lined up against the formidable Bishop Gorman Gaels in a scrimmage game to ease into the season.

The two teams were originally scheduled to have their first game on Friday night, playing each other. But COVID protocols turned the meeting into a scrimmage game instead.

It was the first time since the 1950’s that the Gaels and Pirates have played each other.
Gorman poses a challenge to say the least. In the last eleven years, the Gaels have won ten consecutive State championships in the Nevada 4A Division. During that same time they have won two mythical National Championships.

That streak came to a surprising end last year when the Liberty Patriots pulled off an overtime upset in the quarterfinal round.

Gorman is used to competing in the high-level 5A division for much larger schools. While Moapa Valley is accustomed to doing quite well in the smaller-school 3A division.

But the COVID-19 restrictions still in place has made for some strange athletic match-ups. With the majority of high schools in Clark County School District still engaged in distance learning, most of the teams making up both of these divisions are being required to sit the season out. Only a small number of teams are left to compete which requires matchups across divisions.

Gorman and Moapa Valley are scheduled to meet more formally in the final game of the season at Gorman.

Next week the Pirates will play in the first game of the season at Faith Lutheran another 5A school. The Crusaders are coached by Mike Sanford, the former UNLV Head coach from 2005 to 2009, and at Indiana State from 2013-16. Last year the Crusaders finished the season 5-6 overall and 4-2 in league play.

The Pirates will travel to Pahrump Valley on Mar. 19. Then on Mar. 26, they will play a game against SLAM! A rivalry match against Virgin Valley will take place the following week, April 2, at a yet-to-be-determined location. This will be followed by the Gorman game on April 9.