Pirates Victorious In Season Opener VS. Eldorado

The lights were turned on for high school football on Friday night, Aug. 24.

For the opening week, the Moapa Valley High School football team went up against Eldorado High School in Las Vegas and soundly beat the Sundevils 48-12.

Eldorado was dropped down to the 3A league from the 4A last year in the NIAA realignment. They have struggled to get athletes to come out and play and have only been able to field a varsity team.

Eldorado fielded the opening kickoff deep in their own territory. The SunDevils were held and forced to punt. The snap sailed over the punter’s head and out of the back of the endzone for a Pirates safety. The following kick was returned by the Pirates for a touchdown which was called back for holding.

The Pirates scored their first touchdown when quarterback Peyton Neilson found Dustin Gordon on a 7 yard touchdown pass. Moapa Valley led 9-0 with 6:59 to play in the first quarter.

The Pirates’ second touchdown was scored on their next series when Jayme Carvajal ran the ball from a yard away for the score. With the extra point the Pirates led 16-0.

Eldorado couldn’t move the ball at all and was forced to punt a second time. This time three Pirates were in the punter’s face as he fielded another bad snap. He kicked the ball which was blocked. Eli Cox picked it up and ran it back into the endzone for a third Pirate touchdown. The point after missed and the Pirates led 22-0 with 2:56 to play in the first.

The Sundevils scored their first touchdown with :23 to play in the first quarter. Washington caught a 14 yard touchdown pass to cut the Pirate lead to 22-6.

But the Pirates would return the favor when Gordon caught his second touchdown on the next Pirate possession, a 14 yarder. The point after was good for a 29-6 lead.

Three minutes later, Gunner Redd scored on a quick screen pass from Neilson covering 60 yards including stepping out of a tackle. The point after attempt hit the upright bouncing away giving the Pirates a 35-6 lead.

Austin Heiselbitz scored on the very next possession when he caught a 24 yard pass from Neilson with 3:39 left in the first half. The point after was good for a 42-6 lead.

The Pirate defense held and blocked another punt recovering the ball at the SunDevil 16 yard line. Neilson knelt on the ball running the time off to end the first half.

Eli Cox would get his second touchdown of the game, this time an offensive touchdown when he caught a 15 yd pass from Neilson for a 48-6 lead in the third quarter.

Eldorado scored its final touchdown with a 91 yard bomb using speed to get past the Pirate secondary finishing the scoring for the game.

Once the game was over. The Pirates faithful moved to the field where they celebrated the win with the team. It was hard for them to leave and took almost 30 minutes. Eventually all were moved off the field and out of the stadium by Eldorado officials.

Neilson finished with 186 yards passing with 5 touchdowns for the game. He was 8-10 passing.
Landon Wrzesinski led the Pirates in rushing with 62 yards. Carvajal had 40 yards and a touchdown.

Gordon caught two passes both for touchdowns. He had 22 yards receiving. Redd 3 catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. Heiselbeitz had 2 catches for 37 yards and a touchdown while Cox finished with a catch and a touchdown. He had 15 yards receiving.

Total yards rushing for the Pirates was 182 yards with 186 yards passing for 368 yards of total offense.
No statistics were reported for Eldorado.

The Pirates will travel to Cadence on Friday night. Bring your chairs because there are no bleachers.