1A STATE: Panthers roll to fourth straight crown

FERNLEY — When they started high school, this year’s seniors at Pahranagat Valley joined a football program that had won 11 state championships. They will graduate having never lost a game.

The Panthers won their fourth consecutive Class 1A state title and 15th overall, and their 46th consecutive game with a 42-0 victory over Carlin on Saturday.

Pahranagat Valley finished 12-0, handing Carlin (10-2) its only defeats.

“We talked about finishing perfection,” Panthers coach Ken Higbee said. “I don’t know how many other kids have ever done that in their careers, but that’s pretty impressive.”

Higbee’s brother Brian, his offensive coordinator, was a member of the last Pahranagat Valley team to go unbeaten four years in a row, from 1986 to 1989.

“This is a community thing,” Ken Higbee said. “You see the parents that made this trip here, and it’s family and they support our kids and they allow us to do what we do with these kids.”

The Panthers were barely challenged. After a Carlin fumble on its 8-yard line, Austin Poulsen threw an 8-yard touchdown to Derek Hansen with 27.9 seconds left in the first half for a 22-0 lead.

“That’s a momentum changer,” said Poulsen, who completed 12 of 26 passes for 146 yards and rushed for 91 yards on seven carries. “Things like that change the whole game, so you capitalize on those things.”

Poulsen hit Tyler Higbee with a 10-yard TD in the first quarter, and Higbee scored on a 25-yard run out of the Wildcat formation to open the second quarter.

“We have a great tradition going in Alamo, and I’m just glad to be a part of it,” Tyler Higbee said. “We had some great senior leadership when I came in as a young kid and it’s really fun to see these young kids looking up to me as a leader and winning these state championships so they know what it feels like.”

Poulsen said, “This is the best feeling in the world. My brothers played here before me, and to carry on that tradition and keep winning, it feels amazing.”

Pahranagat Valley’s win would have been more lopsided if not for three turnovers, all fumbles inside the Carlin 20, including one at the 1-yard line. The Panthers also were stopped on fourth-and-goal from the 2 in the second quarter.

“We didn’t execute like we normally do,” Ken Higbee said. “We’ve not turned the ball over that many times this entire season.”

Chase Hansen’s 2-yard run with 6:32 left in the third quarter extended the lead to 28-0. Derek Hansen stripped the ball from Carlin quarterback Blade Lester and scored on an 8-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter, and Poulsen added a 62-yard touchdown run.

Carlin was held to 99 yards of offense. The Railroaders were beaten by the Panthers 72-0 when the teams played in September.