Las Vegas grounds Green Valley

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008 | 1:07 a.m.

Las Vegas High's claim as the Sunrise Region's top football program was confirmed Friday night.

Yet again.

Las Vegas' Emir Lopez passed for 237 yards and three touchdowns and Reggie Bullock added two touchdowns as the host Wildcats beat Green Valley High 45-32 in the Sunrise Regional semifinals.

The victory puts Las Vegas in its ninth straight regional championship game. The Wildcats, who have played in every regional title contest since Southern Nevada's large-school classification was split into two regions, have won five straight regional titles.

"Everyone on this team loves football and plays hard the whole game," Bullock said. "Our offense played well and didn't let up, and our defense made things happen all night."

Las Vegas (11-1) opened the third quarter with two touchdowns, scores that came within three minutes of each other, in extending a 12-point halftime lead to a comfortable 38-12 advantage.

Lopez connected with Saeveon Butler on a 14-yard touchdown, and following a Green Valley turnover on the second play of the ensuing possession, Bullock rushed in from four yards out.

"In his mind, every time he touches the ball, he should go to the end zone," Las Vegas coach Chris Faircloth said of Bullock. "He just has a tremendous desire to play the game."

Bullock wasn't the only Las Vegas tailback who had a big night. Freshman Farrel Victor rushed for 129 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries to give the Wildcats a balanced offense Green Valley couldn't contain.

Lopez threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Franklin and also hooked up with Marquan Major for a 25-yard scoring strike.

"Whatever they give us, we'll take," Faircloth said of his staff's offensive philosophy.

Green Valley (8-4) trailed 17-0 at the end of the first quarter and could have easily stopped playing.

However, the Gators scored the next two touchdowns, and despite missing both conversions, only trailed 17-12.

"We watched their games with Del Sol and Basic (when Green Valley rallied from double digit deficits) and knew they weren't going to stop playing," Bullock said.

Green Valley's Nick Libonati completed 26 of 44 passes for 366 yards and five touchdowns, but the Gators weren't able to have success with their ground attack. They only rushed for 75 yards on 20 carries, including 59 from Libonati.

"They attacked our defense right up the gut pretty easily," Green Valley coach Matt Gerber said. "We really had a hard time stopping their offense and when you're playing from behind it's even harder.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@hbcpub.com.