Wildcats sprint past Falcons with strong second-half push

On a night where the Las Vegas passing attack was sputtering, the Wildcats went to the ground game in the fourth quarter against visiting Foothill.

And junior running back Andrew Moreland continuously delivered.

Moreland, who rushed for 24 yards in the first-half, exploded for four second-half touchdowns, including two key scores in a 1:44 span of the final period, as the No. 8 Wildcats rallied for a wild 55-40 win Friday evening.

Down by seven heading into the fourth quarter, Las Vegas (3-1) scored touchdowns on three straight possessions and never looked back. Quarterback Trevor Swenson hit Joshua Mayfield for a 49-yard score 13 seconds into the final quarter, tying the game at 34.

Then Moreland took over the game, scoring TDs on back-to-back runs of 42 and 40 yards as Las Vegas won at home for the first time this season.

“That’s been our formula this season, running the ball in the fourth quarter,” said Las Vegas coach James Thurman. “We’re not big enough the move people around, so we have to spread the field. That’s a very good team we beat tonight.”

Foothill (1-3) did pull to within eight, as quarterback Drew Doxtator threw his fifth touchdown of the night on a 15-yard strike to Andre Gonzalez with just over three minutes remaining. However, Elias Miller’s six-yard score in the final minute sealed the Las Vegas victory.

The teams combined for more than 1,100 yards.

For Foothill, Doxtator was 36-for-60 for 448 yards and threw three TDs to Gonzalez and two to Bryce Broadwell. Jordan Primo led the Falcons with 11 catches for 147 yards, and Broadwell added nine for 104.

“They (Foothill) do a great job of nickel-and-dime passes,” said Thurman. “It was tough defending that all night long, because of the way they spread the ball all over the field. Our kids hung in there against a very good offense.”

Doxtator completed passes to eight receivers, and threw for 239 yards in the second-half. In addition, Ricky Dixon rushed for 161 yards on 30 carries for Foothill.

Las Vegas used an impressive ground attack, gaining 378 of its 516 total yards rushing.

Moreland had scoring runs of one, 78 and 13 before the fourth-quarter pair. Miller added 84 yards on 14 trips for the Wildcats.