Sloan Canyon crushes SLAM! Nevada to claim 4A region title — PHOTOS
After a showstopping offensive performance Friday night, Sloan Canyon will take to Nevada’s biggest stage for the chance to complete a perfect season.
The top-seeded Pirates plundered visiting SLAM! Nevada 47-10 to claim the 4A Southern Region championship. Sloan Canyon will face Reno’s McQueen High on Nov. 25 at Allegiant Stadium for the state title.
“This is such a great feeling for us and the boys,” said Pirates quarterback Cade Hoshino, draped in a variety of Hawaiian leis. “We found a brotherhood this season and I couldn’t be happier for these guys tonight.”
Hoshino conducted the Pirates offense with precision, finishing 14-for-27 passing for 219 yards and three touchdowns. Christian Rhodes was his favorite target, hauling in five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown.
Sloan Canyon (12-0) moved the ball well on the ground too, as running back Jermaine Wilson Jr. gained 165 yards on 21 carries, scoring twice.
After the win, Pirates coach Nate Oishi was happy but grounded, emphasizing Monday’s practice more than the state championship matchup.
“They took it one play at a time and they didn’t look up at the scoreboard until the game was over,” Oishi said. “They’ve been doing that all season long — one play at a time, one practice at a time, one game at a time. I’m proud of them.”
Sloan Canyon took control from the opening drive, when defensive back Jerome Johnson picked off Bulls QB Mark Schramm. That interception led to a 5-yard touchdown run from Kalepo Mose.
Early in the second quarter, No. 6 seed SLAM! Nevada (8-5) got on the board when kicker Grant Ploetz connected from 27 yards out. From then on, it was pretty much all Pirates.
Mose scored once more for Sloan Canyon before halftime, on a 1-yard run, to give the Pirates a 14-3 lead.
Hoshino threw his first touchdown pass of the night early in the third quarter, finding Rhodes in the back right corner of the end zone on a rainbow-arc 35-yard pass. On Sloan Canyon’s next drive, Hoshino got the Pirates inside the Bulls’ 10 with a 42-yard pass to Justice Hutchins. Wilson finished the drive with an 8-yard scoring run, making it 28-3.
SLAM! Nevada scored once more, on a third-quarter touchdown pass from Schramm to Malakai Boykin to cut the deficit to 28-10.
Schramm went 9-for-21 on the night, with 79 passing yards, one touchdown and a pair of interceptions. Running back Anthony Edwards Jr. moved the ball well for the Bulls, finishing with 67 rushing yards on 12 carries.
The Pirates scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter: a 7-yard Wilson run and a 2-yard touchdown pass from Hoshino to Brandon Quaglio.
Sloan Canyon put the game away for good on another Hoshino-to-Quaglio TD early in the fourth quarter.
