Boulder City stomps out Faith Lutheran, 34-14

By Brent Hinckley (contact)

Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Boulder City High senior quarterback Jake Phillips shined on senior night in the Eagles' 34-14 win against visiting Faith Lutheran on Friday.

Phillips threw for 192 yards for two touchdowns and ran for a third to lead the Eagles (5-3, 1-2) to the win.

“This was an amazing win,” Phillips said. “We wanted to take it to them early and send a message.”

He wasn’t the only Eagles senior to have a strong performance in the home finale. Senior tight end Shane Levin recovered a fumble and had a touchdown reception, while senior running back Jeremy Smith and senior receiver Joey Felsenfeld each scored. Also, senior lineman John Garlinghouse had an interception return for a touchdown.

“We’ve been building each week. We wanted to come out and be physical and have a convincing win,” Boulder City coach Alex Kazel said.

The Eagles got on the board in the first quarter when Phillips connected with Levin for a 45-yard touchdown reception. The play was set up by a Faith Lutheran fumble, recovered by Levin.

“We just executed. In practice we just focused on the little things that have been tearing our offense down, and we came out and executed tonight,” Phillips said.

Boulder City extended its lead to 14-0 in the second quarter when Phillips kept the ball and ran in from 13 yards out. The Eagles rushed for 240 yards, with senior running back Spencer Sasarita leading the way with 17 carries for 87 yards. Senior running back Chris Leach added 63 yards on six carries.

“We just had a lot of power runs that worked really well,” Sasarita said.

Faith Lutheran coach Jake Kothe said his team’s inability to stop Boulder City’s ground game was the key in the loss.

“We have to stop the run and we were not able to do that tonight,” Kothe said. “Field position also killed us. Boulder’s a good team and you have to credit the kids and the coaching staff.”

The Crusaders cut the lead to seven in the third quarter when they needed four plays to go 27 yards after an interception. Quarterback Joe Portaro connected with senior receiver Don Pearson on a 13-yard touchdown pass.

Faith Lutheran had 266 yards of total offense ­— with 205 yards coming through the air. Portaro was 15 of 34 with two touchdowns and an interception.

“We haven’t been able to put together a full four quarters together yet this year,” Kothe said. “We’ve been a slow starting team and it caught up with us.”

Boulder City put the game away in the fourth quarter by scoring three touchdowns. Phillips threw his second touchdown pass when he found an open Smith, who took the ball 18 yards for the score.

A little more than a minute later, Garlinghouse picked off Portaro and returned it 25 yards for a 28-7 lead. Boulder City’s final points came when Felsenfeld scored on a 15-yard rush with 2:48 left in the game.

Faith Lutheran scored with less than a minute to go when Portaro hit senior tight end Brett Lubbe for a 25-yard touchdown, cutting the score to 34-14.

The winner of the Moapa Valley-Virgin Valley game on Oct. 30 hosts Faith Lutheran in the first round of the league playoffs on Nov. 8, while the loser hosts Boulder City, which plays at Desert Oasis on Oct. 30.

Brent Hinckley can be reached at 990-2687 or brent.hinckley@hbcpub.com.