SMALL SCHOOLS: Gleeful Pirates run past rival Virgin Valley
As Moapa Valley football players congregated to sing the school’s fight song Saturday, they had plenty of reasons to celebrate a fifth straight win over rival Virgin Valley.
But the Pirates had one extra reason to rejoice: a spot in the Class 3A state semifinals.
Zach Waite rushed for four touchdowns, Moapa Valley took advantage of a barrage of Virgin Valley mistakes, and the host Pirates rolled to a 33-21 quarterfinal victory in Overton.
“It’s a good feeling. They’re our arch-rival, and we like to beat them,” Waite said. “Our goal is to go to state, and that’s where we’re trying to go right now.”
Moapa Valley (6-4) will host Lowry (8-3) in a 3A state semifinal next Saturday.
Waite carried 11 times for 80 yards, including touchdown runs of 19, 1, 15 and 10 yards.
“If you give Zach a hole, he’s money,” Pirates coach Brent Lewis said. “We made holes for him, and that’s the big thing.”
Waite is one of several Moapa Valley seniors who will finish their careers undefeated against their fiercest rival. The Pirates have won the last three regular-season meetings against the Bulldogs (7-3), and the 2007 state title game.
Moapa Valley stole the momentum for good late in the second quarter, when Virgin Valley’s punter ran out of bounds at Moapa Valley’s 1-yard line after fielding a snap that sailed over his head.
Waite plunged in for a 1-yard score on the ensuing play, giving the Pirates a 19-14 lead with 1:22 still on the clock before halftime.
It was one of two costly high snaps on punt attempts for the Bulldogs, who also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
“We like to say you make your own luck, but we’ll take a gift any time you can get it,” Lewis said. “That’s kind of what that was; you’ve got to jump on it.”
Moapa Valley’s Hayden Cooper returned a fumble to the Virgin Valley 15-yard line late in the third quarter, and Waite found a huge hole on the left side of the offensive line to cruise into the end zone on the next play.
Two plays after Kelan Weiss intercepted a pass from Bulldogs quarterback Humberto Urias, Waite ran for a 10-yard score to give Moapa Valley a 33-14 lead with 11:10 remaining.
Weiss threw for 133 yards, including a 71-yard scoring strike to Shane Terril on the first play from scrimmage.
Virgin Valley’s Urias passed for 98 yards, with a 31-yard scoring strike to Brandon Cohen in the first quarter and a 3-yard TD to Daniel Gleave on the final play from scrimmage.
Dee Bowler added 94 yards and a TD on 20 carries for Virgin Valley.
Agassi Prep 62, The Meadows 30 — At Rancho, junior Tank Carter ran for three touchdowns to lead the Stars to their first Class 2A playoff victory in school history.
Carter rushed on scoring plays of 16, 20 and 29 yards on the ground, finishing with 82 yards on 10 carries.
The Stars (7-2) wasted little time, driving 54 yards in six plays on the game’s opening drive, which was capped by Terrell Kemp’s 31-yard TD pass to DeVonn Porter.
Porter tacked on a 3-yard scoring run on the Stars’ next possession, then later scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter to finish with 151 yards on 21 carries.
The Meadows quarterback Garrett Gosse did all he could to keep the game close, rushing for 65 yards on 13 carries, including 12-, 1- and 4-yard TD runs.
Gosse also completed 21-of-41 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown.
Agassi Prep will host Pershing County in a 2A semifinal Nov. 13 at 1 p.m.
— Vincent Hernandez
Mountain View 42, Needles 28 — At Needles, Calif., T.J. Engel and Justyn Anderson each scored three touchdowns as the Saints (6-5) upset the Mustangs (6-4) in a Class 2A state quarterfinal.
The Saints, the No. 4 seed from the South, turned an early 7-0 deficit into a 21-7 halftime lead on two Engel touchdown passes of 12 and 31 yards to Anderson and a 6-yard run by Engel.
The Mustangs, the South’s No. 1 seed, had a chance to trim the deficit on the final drive of the first half, pushing to the Mountain View 3-yard line before the Saints’ Henry Santos intercepted a pass.
A 28-yard TD run by Anderson and a 54-yard scoring run by Engel, sandwiched around a TD run by Needles’ Daric Courtwright, pushed the margin to 35-14 after three quarters, and a 1-yard plunge by Engel made it 42-14 with 10:04 to play.
Engle had 26 carries for 163 yards and threw for 97 yards. Anderson finished with 88 yards on seven carries and caught five passes for 71 yards.
Courtwright scored on runs of 1, 2 and 2 yards for Needles, which also got a 46-yard TD pass from Andrew Mathews to Austin Baldwin.
