Moapa week stirs passion in Boulder City team

Nick Christensen

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

There's a look about the kids at Boulder City High, a look that reads "we mean business."

It's a look reserved for the week of one of Southern Nevada's top football rivalries. 3A South play begins Friday when Moapa Valley travels 80 miles from Overton to take on Boulder City.

But hiding behind the emotion of the rivalry is a shroud of mystery over exactly how good the five 3A South teams are this year. The teams have a combined 5-11 record.

Faith Lutheran is 3-0, but its wins are against White Pine and Mineral County -- two 2A teams -- and another that's on its way to being 2A -- North Tahoe.

Virgin Valley is 1-3, the win coming against 2A Lincoln County but the losses coming at the hands of a strong 3A North team in Fernley and two St. George-area teams that would play in the 4A if in Nevada -- Dixie and Hurricane.

Pahrump Valley is limping along at 0-3, having lost to Sparks, La Jolla (Calif.) and 3A powerhouse Spring Creek. Moapa Valley is also winless, having played Dixie and Hurricane after opening at 4A Carson. Last week, the Pirates showed signs of life in a 28-16 home loss to Cheyenne.

And then there's Boulder City, which is the only school in the region to play a reasonable 3A schedule. The Eagles opened with a win at a weak Sparks team, but then lost a pair of games against Mohave and River Valley, two Bullhead City area teams that not long ago petitioned to join Nevada's 3A South themselves.

Of course, all that the Eagles need to know about this week's game is that they're playing Moapa, a rival nobody knows about better than lineman Andrew Hafen.

His parents both went to Boulder City High as kids, and his uncle played for the Pirates in a time that Moapa dominated the rivalry.

"He always talks smack to us, so we have to get him back," Hafen said. "This is the one we think about all offseason. We worked three weeks just preparing for Moapa. If we get this win it would really get the city behind us and get us a lot of confidence in league."

Chances are everyone in the city that can fit will indeed be behind the Eagles, sitting in their stadium carved into the hill on the west end of the school's picturesque campus. Already, the town of 15,000 is abuzz with this week's contest looming.

"That's all everybody talks about for the week," Hafen said. "The fans love the game, and the stands are packed every time."

Of late, the stands are packed anyway. The Eagles finished second in the 3A South last year, and although coach Jeff Knutson would never admit it, they stand a decent chance of winning the regular season this year.

The top four teams qualify for the 3A South playoffs. This year, only one team will advance to the state semifinals to face the third-seed from the 3A North.

"I know our first game, we had a huge crowd and I would expect that again," said Knutson, who was the head coach at Moapa until five years ago. "It's going to be a great rivalry game, no doubt about that."

Knutson's replacement at Moapa, Brent Lewis, took the Pirates to the state championship game last year. Although the Pirates' top rival is nearby Virgin Valley -- those teams play at Overton on October 21 -- he said Knutson's presence makes the rivalry mean more.

Of course, the Pirates are just looking to get their feet on the ground after a humbling start to the year against some tough competition.

Even coaches in Las Vegas readily acknowledge that Dixie and Hurricane, from Utah's 3A Region 9, would be top-caliber teams in the Las Vegas Valley. Both are undefeated, as are Region 9 rivals Pine View, which beat Las Vegas High in St. George on August 26.

Moapa showed some signs of life last week when they hosted Cheyenne, the fifth-ranked 4A team in the state this week.

"The bad thing was we didn't get a chance to get some confidence going, although the Cheyenne game was a confidence boost because we played them tough," Lewis said. "We're real unsure of ourselves but we know we've been playing tough teams."

Quarterback Mike Davis, younger brother of former Moapa standout Zach Davis, has struggled early, primarily because his offensive line has been outmatched and hasn't offered him much protection.

"If we can get settled and give him some time to throw, he's very capable," Lewis said. "But if we don't give him any time, he becomes pretty average."

There won't be much average about this Friday's game, though, even on the Moapa sidelines.

"They used to kick us around when we first went into the league," Lewis said. "It means a lot to my kids."

The Panthers' non-league schedule was already tough, including Smith Valley, Tonopah, Carlin and defending 1A champion Wells. Last week, Lund, struggling mightily with numbers issues, backed out of their scheduled game against Alamo, and the Panthers scheduled Eureka.

Pahranagat is undefeated, having scored 50-plus points in each of their four games. All of their opponents were considered before the season to be 1A champion contenders, as is Carlin.

Much of the credit is due to brothers George and William Vea. George is visiting Brigham Young for a recruiting trip in early October, and Boise State has shown interest, although UNLV has not. He has 282 rushing yards so far, and brother William has 320.

"If I gave (George) the ball 25 times he'd have 500 yards a game," coach Ken Higbee said. "Same thing with William. But they understand there are more important things than just personal glory."

The Panthers meet the Railroaders in Carlin at 7 p.m. on Friday.

The Diamondbacks get their first true test of 2005 on Friday afternoon, when 2-1 Spring Mountain Youth Camp travels to Sandy Valley.

"This game is making me nervous," Keystone coach Goodman said Wednesday after a long chat with mentor Eric Johnson, defensive coordinator at Mater Dei in Santa Ana, Calif.

"We've got a team we've never beaten and we've got them this Friday. This will be the week that'll be the tell-tale."

The Spring Mountain kids, eagerly awaiting the installation of their artificial turf field high atop Angel Peak, have a knack for blitzing -- over and over again. But Keystone Academy has some of the biggest linemen in Southern Nevada football of any level.

"It's going to be a tough, tough football game. This will be the test," Goodman said.