Pirates Go 2-0 In First Week

The Moapa Valley High School Flag Football team started its season last week with two wins.

On Tuesday, Nov. 30, The Pirates hosted Mater East and shut out the Knights, 42-0.
The Pirates scored twice in the first quarter then again in the second.

Pirate quarterback Kyndal Longman threw for 224 yards on 10 of 20 passing. She threw two touchdowns and had just one interception.

Paige Fairchild was the leading receiver in yardage with 95 yards total on four receptions and a touchdown. Lexy Fullman caught three passes for 44 yards; two of them for touchdowns. Brooklyn Reynolds caught three passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. Brooke Sherwood caught three for 21 yards and a touchdown.

The Pirates had a three touchdown lead at halftime.
“We came out to start the game with some great catches,” said Head Coach Dave Belcher. “Longman was hitting her spots as we moved the ball down the field. The only complaint I had was, once we got a three touchdown lead in the second quarter, we lost focus, missed easy flags and dropped some passes.”

But in the second half, the team seemed to regain that focus. Longman ran for a team-leading 39 yards. Sherwood made an interception and returned the ball 50 yards for a touchdown.
Moapa Valley finished with 325 yards of total offense in the shutout.

On Thursday, the Pirates traveled to Rancho High School in Las Vegas and beat the Rams 30-6.
“Rancho was a much bigger and faster team than we were,” Belcher said. “We had to make some adjustments on defense and use the wide field on offense. That took a series on both sides to get it going.”

The flag football field at Rancho was built 14 yards wider than most of the other fields in the district, Belcher said.
“That gives the Rams an advantage with their speed,” he said. “We got knocked around a little as the Rams were very physical, forcing us to step up and get physical as well.”

Moapa Valley scored a touchdown in each quarter. Rancho scored their only touchdown in the first quarter. Barker, the Rams quarterback, scored the touchdown on a 6 yard run. Drummer was the Rams leading rusher with 72 yards total on 10 carries. Barker was 10-18 for 97 yards passing and 2 interceptions. Drummer was also the leading receiver with 3 catches for 24 yards.

Longman was 13-21 passing for 188 yards and three touchdowns for the Pirates. Sherwood ran for 76 yards on five carries. Her longest was 34 yards. The Pirates ran for 145 yards total for the game. They had 333 total yards of offense.

Fairchild had 5 receptions for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Alexa Nuckles had an interception while Tyelar Anderson picked a pass and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown. The Pirates were 3 for 3 on two point conversions.

This week the Pirates hit the road. They will travel to SECTA on Tuesday then to Skypoint on Friday.