Moapa Valley comes out flat, gets shut out in Utah

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, Aug. 26, 2011 | 10:11 p.m.

During one point of his team’s game at Desert Hills (Utah) Friday night, Moapa Valley coach Brent Lewis had to wonder if playing in an NFL stadium was the only way he could get his players focused.

A week after the Pirates won their opener by beating Arizona’s Show Low at the University of Phoenix Stadium, they took a step back in losing 24-0 to Desert Hills.

“We definitely weren’t focused,” Lewis said. “I kind of sensed it before the game. We weren’t ready to go.”

Moapa Valley fell behind by two touchdowns early, mirroring last week’s game, but couldn’t muster up any type of response this time. Although the defense held Desert Hills to one score after halftime, the Moapa Valley offense gained only 130 total yards.

Conner Mortensen found some success on the ground, gaining 48 yards on 12 carries, but Lewis had to ditch plans on the ground as time ticked off the scoreboard.

Quarterback Dakota Watters “threw the ball pretty well,” according to Lewis, but the Pirates drives always stalled. They had four turnovers and multiple penalties.

“It was just an ugly game,” Lewis said. “I thought we were a little intimidated of their size. We struggled to maintain any offensive flow and defensively, we didn’t challenge enough. I thought we played pretty soft.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.