Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

high school football:

State Championship Live Blog: Down 3 TDs in fourth quarter, Moapa Valley storms back to win in OT

Desert Pines vs. Moapa Valley

L.E. Baskow

Moapa Valley head coach Brent Lewis celebrates his team’s win over Desert Pines with the trophy after being doused with ice water at the Division I-A state championship game Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.

Updated Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014 | 7:01 p.m.

Prep Sports Now

Two rematches and #1 vs. #2

Las Vegas Sun sports reporters Ray Brewer and Case Keefer break down the Division 1A championship game, Basic's back-to-back upsets and Arbor View's chances against Bishop Gorman.

The Moapa Valley High football team erased a three-touchdown deficit today against Desert Pines to win the Division I-A state championship in overtime, 42-36.

The overtime lasted two plays.

Moapa Valley had the ball first and scored on Zach Hymas' 10-yard TD pass to RJ Hubert. On Desert Pines' first play, the Jaguars fumbled to end the game.

Check back later for more.

• • •

The Desert Pines High football program is one half away from its first state championship.

The Jaguars lead Moapa Valley 20-0 at halftime of the Division I-A state championship game, using a touchdown run and catch from Isaiah Morris to take a commanding lead.

Trevor Nofoa started the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run at the 8:35 mark of the first quarter.

The Desert Pines defense forced Moapa Valley to punt on its first four possessions. It also has an interception and has forced two turnovers on downs.

Desert Pines quarterback Markell Grayson has passed for almost 200 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown to Morris on a fourth-down play with less than three minutes to play in the half.

• • •

This won’t be the last time the Desert Pines High football team makes a deep playoff run. The Jaguars, who start a sophomore quarterback and running back, are built to last.

Today, they’ll get their first crack at a state championship, taking on established power Moapa Valley for the Division I-A title at Bishop Gorman.

Moapa Valley reached seven straight state championship games from 2006-12 and seems to always play meaningful games in the late fall. Desert Pines is starting to follow suit.

It joined the lower classification three seasons ago and almost immediately became one of its better teams. However, the Jaguars are in the same league as Moapa Valley and haven’t been able to beat the Pirates. In the third week of this season, Desert Pines had a three-point halftime lead against Moapa Valley but still lost by double digits.

Desert Pines sophomore quarterback Marckell Grayson and running back Isaiah Morris each have accounted for more than 1,500 yards of offense this season, combining with senior wide receivers Andre Watts and Jon McCoy to usually give the Jaguars the best athletes on the field.

Those athletes will have to be at their best to get past Moapa Valley, which also has talented players in junior wide receiver R.J. Hubert and senior Cole Mulcock. The Moapa Valley duo is so good, Desert Pines coach Tico Rodriguez this week called them the best wide receiver duo in the state outside of No. 1-ranked Bishop Gorman.

I’ll keep everyone posted throughout the game. Join the conversations on Twitter using #sunstandout and #702hsfb.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy