Moapa Valley game called off, but players were ready to go

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014 | 4:45 p.m.

The Moapa Valley High football team was ready to play.

The massive storm and flooding that caused $5 million in damage to Moapa Valley, Overton and Logandale wasn’t going to keep the Pirates’ state-championship-contending team from taking on Desert Pines on Friday in what was being billed as its most important game of the season.

On Thursday, though, the Clark County School District pulled the plug on the game. Interstate 15 leading out of Overton to Las Vegas still isn’t completely open because of flood damage and not worth the risk for travel by a high school football team. The Del Sol game against host Mesquite's Virgin Valley was also cancelled, and was rescheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday.

It capped a wild week for the Moapa Valley players. They didn’t use the tragedy as an excuse and aren’t too thrilled the game was spiked.

Here’s a look back:

They were gathered in a classroom Monday afternoon watching game film when the week took an unexpected turn. Those clouds hovering over town earlier in the day produced a nasty storm.

One minute they were game-planning to stop Desert Pines’ high-scoring offense in the Division I-A opener that likely will determine the Sunrise Division champion. The next, the power at the school — and other parts of Overton, Logandale and Moapa Valley — was out.

“We hung out and waited for (the power) to come back on,” Moapa Valley coach Brent Lewis said early Thursday before the game was canceled. “It didn’t come back on until midnight.”

By then, the players had all headed back to their homes. A majority of the team lives in Overton, where about 30 homes were damaged.

Practice was canceled Monday; school was canceled Tuesday. Some players spent Tuesday doing community service by cleaning debris around town or doing whatever else residents needed.

By the time players returned to practice Tuesday evening, Lewis had a message for them: Nothing will stop them from beating Desert Pines, not even the awful storms that closed roads and forced linebacker Andrew Huerta to stay with friends near school because his family’s home suffered flood damage.

“We made (the missed practice) up in other ways,” Lewis said.

Lewis is one of the state’s best coaches. And Moapa Valley is one of its best programs, advancing to six consecutive state championship games before losing in the 2013 state semifinals. If any program could have handled a missed practice or weather complications, it’s the Pirates.

Others would use the flooding as an excuse for not having players properly prepared. Lewis refused to take that attitude, knowing the Desert Pines game would dictate the remainder of the season. And, with the exception of Monday, most of the Pirates’ routine was unchanged.

Moapa Valley and Desert Pines are, hands down, the best two teams in the Sunrise. Neither is expected to be challenged the rest of the regular season, meaning the winner — when the teams finally do meet — will have the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. That would guarantee home-field advantage until the state championship game.

“They understand the importance,” Lewis said.

Know this about fans of the blue and yellow in Overton: It’s a football community that is passionate about its team. Flooding might have created an interesting week, but nothing would have interfered with supporting the Pirates come Friday night. They would have outnumbered the home team and maybe doubled their opponents in the number of supporters.

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