Newton gives spark to Pirates

After watching his offense struggle in the first half Saturday, Moapa Valley coach Brent Lewis figured Matt Newton might have a big play up his sleeve in the second half.

It turned out Newton had three.

The senior receiver caught two touchdown passes and threw for another in the third quarter to spark Moapa Valley to a 43-0 home win over Fernley in a Class 3A state semifinal.

"He's tough to cover for four quarters," Lewis said of Newton. "They did a pretty good job on him in the first two quarters, but eventually he wears guys down. You've got to run 30, 40 yards to cover him, and he just runs by people."

Moapa Valley (7-3) will play Truckee (11-0) in the 3A state title game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Damonte Ranch High in Reno. The Pirates will be gunning for their third consecutive state crown.

Newton caught five passes for 126 yards, including TD receptions of 40 and 37 yards from Kelan Weiss. Newton also took a lateral from Weiss before hitting Dillon Gordon with a 33-yard scoring strike that came in between his two TD catches.

Newton also had an interception while playing safety. Moapa Valley has shut out its last three opponents.

Moapa Valley held Fernley (7-4), which entered averaging 32 points per game, to 54 yards of offense. Four players had one sack each for the Pirates, who recorded a safety and stuffed 14 Fernley plays for loss or no gain.

Weiss completed 9 of 16 passes for 183 yards and three TDs, also hooking up with Hayden Cooper on a 10-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter.

• Truckee (Calif.) 35, Boulder City 8 -- At Truckee, Calif., the Wolverines held the Eagles to minus-43 rushing yards en route to the easy win.

Ben Bolton passed for 236 yards and three touchdowns to lead Truckee.

Boulder City's touchdown came on a 69-yard pass from Ryan Washburn to Kyle Dimpel.

CLASS 2A

• The Meadows 38, Pershing County 20 -- At The Meadows, Austin Brown had three touchdown catches and a key interception to lead The Meadows to the Class 2A state semifinal win.

With his team clinging to a 24-20 lead early in the fourth quarter, Brown made a diving interception in the end zone.

"Austin changed the game right there, and he's that type of kid," The Meadows coach Frank DeSantis said. "It was an unbelievable catch."

The Meadows (10-1) plays Battle Mountain (8-3) in the 2A state title game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Damonte Ranch.

Brown had just made a touchdown-saving tackle on the final play of the third quarter, dragging down Pershing County's Jake Schumacher at The Meadows' 16 after a 68-yard reception.

Pershing County moved the ball to the 8, but Brown picked off a Dylan Bloyed pass to end the threat.

Brown's interception set up a five-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by a 49-yard TD pass from Garrett Gosse to Max Newman with 9:25 to play.

Brown then made a big play on special teams to set up the team's final score. Bloyed was hit by Josh Raimist as he tried to scoop up a punt, and Brown pounced on the loose ball at the Pershing County 15.

Two plays later, Gosse hit Brown with a 17-yard TD pass, and Dylan Lee's extra point made it 38-20 with 5:55 to play.

The Meadows forced four turnovers in the fourth quarter, including a pair of interceptions by David Liu.

Gosse passed for 217 yards and four TDs, and added a 4-yard TD run in leading the defending state champs back to the title game.

• Battle Mountain 35, Mountain View 8 -- At Battle Mountain, Mike Lake rushed for two second-quarter touchdowns, and the Longhorns (9-2) used a ball-control offense to wear down the Saints (9-3) in the other semifinal.

Lake had scoring runs of 21 and 30 yards in the second quarter, helping the Longhorns grab a 14-0 halftime lead.

Mountain View took the opening kickoff and moved to the Battle Mountain 10-yard line before the drive stalled. The Longhorns then held the ball for all but a minute of the remainder of the half and the first four minutes of the third quarter.

CLASS 1A

• Pahranagat Valley 46, Eureka 6 -- At Alamo, Jensen Jones rushed for 122 yards and three TDs as the Panthers (9-0) downed the Vandals (9-1) in the 1A state semifinals.

Pahranagat Valley will play Coleville (11-0) in the 1A title game at noon Saturday at Damonte Ranch.

• Coleville 76, Tonopah 0 -- At Coleville, Calif., Jason Peters rushed for four touchdowns and threw for three more as the Wolves routed the Muckers (6-5).