Lowry’s Billingsley big obstacle in Pirates’ path to title game

Moapa Valley’s football team encountered Lowry’s Jace Billingsley last season in the Class 3A state semifinals in Overton.

The senior running back and safety will present an even greater challenge for the Pirates this season.

Moapa Valley (9-2) will try to reach its sixth straight Class 3A state title game when its hosts Lowry (9-2) in a state semifinal at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“They’re a physical football team, and (Billingsley) looks faster and stronger than he did last year,” Moapa Valley coach Brent Lewis said.

Billingsley is one of the state’s leading rushers with 2,251 yards and 29 touchdowns this season, averaging 12.4 yards per carry. He has surpassed 220 rushing yards in seven games this season, including a 234-yard effort in a 34-14 quarterfinal win over Spring Creek last week.

“We’ll need to contain him, and make sure we have two or three guys (defending him),” Lewis said.

The 5-foot-10-inch, 170-pound Billingsley also is a standout safety, with 74 tackles and six interceptions on the season.

Billingsley rushed for 101 yards on 24 carries and returned an interception 96 yards for a score in last year’s semifinal, won 35-20 by Moapa Valley.

This year, the Pirates enter the game coming off a frustrating 13-12 overtime victory over rival Virgin Valley. Moapa Valley was held to 103 total yards of offense in the game, but won on an overtime 5-yard TD run by Conner Mortensen and an extra point by his brother, Dylan Mortensen.

The Pirates were held scoreless until 2:15 remained in regulation.

Lewis pointed to stopping a Virgin Valley player who returned a blocked field goal to the Moapa Valley 4-yard line, then preventing the Bulldogs from scoring late in regulation as a sign of experience and poise.

Experience that could prove useful against the Buckaroos.

“When they brought that field goal back, we could have watched them bring it back (for a TD), but our kids chased them down and it ended up saving a touchdown,” Lewis said. “We’ve been down in some games, battled back, and all that experience is in the memory bank.”

Lewis said it will be key this week for his Pirates to handle blitzes and a loaded box better than his team did against Virgin Valley.

“We didn’t handle Virgin’s pressure very well,” he said. “Lowry’s going to throw some pressure at us, and we’ve got to block it.

“I think our defense (last week) played well enough to keep us in the game.”

Lewis is glad the Pirates get to play the semifinals at home after clinching the South’s No. 1 seed during the regular season.

“It’s huge. We play well at home,” he said. “With our success, we want to thank our home crowd. We get a lot of support in the community. The crowd is intense, and the kids are intense.”