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March 29, 2024

Live coverage: Moapa Valley closes with 27 unanswered points to win 3A title

Bishop Gorman (5A) and Silverado (4A) already crowned state champions

4A High School Football State Championship Silverado vs Shadow Ridge

Christopher DeVargas

Silverado High running back Donavyn Pellot (2) celebrates with his team after scoring a touchdown in the 1st quarter of their 4A championship game against Shadow Ridge High at Allegiant Stadium Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.

Updated Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021 | 9:12 p.m.

Silverado wins class 4A title

Silverado High running back Donavyn Pellot (2) celebrates with his team after scoring a touchdown in the 1st quarter of their 4A championship game against Shadow Ridge High at Allegiant Stadium Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021. Launch slideshow »

Gorman football wins 5A championship

Bishop Gorman High School celebrates their 56-7 win against McQueen High of Reno in the 5A high school football championship at Allegiant Stadium on Thursday Nov. 18, 2021. Launch slideshow »

Peyton Neilson accounted for three touchdowns today for the Moapa Valley football team, helping the Pirates overcome a two touchdown deficit against rival Virgin Valley for a 27-14 victory in the class 3A state championship game.

Neilson’s short touchdown run with about nine minutes to play were the eventual winning points, as the Moapa Valley defense held up in the fourth quarter to help the Pirates close the game with 27 unanswered points.

After the Neilson touchdown, Virgin Valley returned the ensuing kickoff to near midfield and worked the ball to the Moapa Valley 30-yard line. But the Pirates forced and recovered a fumble to stall the drive with about six minutes remaining.

Jayme Carvajal had a 24-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:06 left for the final points to put an exclamation mark on the comeback.

Neilson connected with Dustin Gordon for the other Moapa Valley touchdown.

That does it for four state championship games at Allegiant Stadium. Check back later for more.

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Bishop Gorman won the class 5A state high school football championship in blowout fashion. Silverado also won a lopsided affair in the class 4A championship game.

That trend isn’t continuing in the class 3A, as Virgin Valley leads Moapa Valley 14-7 at halftime in the final game at Allegiant Stadium.

Virgin Valley jumped out to a 14-0 lead on receiving touchdowns from Jimmy Kelly and Cameron Perkins, and Moapa Valley answered with a 1-yard run from Peyton Neilson with 42 seconds remaining in halftime.

Moapa Valley will receive the ball to open the second half, and is expected to make a charge. They, after all, have already defeated Virgin Valley once this season.

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Virgin Valley scored on the first offensive play of the class 3A state championship game against Moapa Valley when Jimmy Kelly took a short pass from Gavin Brown and outraced the defense for a touchdown.

The Virgin Valley defense has done the rest in coming down with two turnovers, helping the Bulldogs lead the Pirates 7-0 after the first quarter in the last of four championship games today at Allegiant Stadium.

Virgin Valley allowed Moapa Valley to bring the ball onto its side of the field on each possession, but Cameron Perkins had an interception to stall the first drive and Virgin Valley recovered a fumble on the second.

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The Silverado High School football team won the first state championship in school history tonight, using five touchdown passes from Brandon Tunnell in a 61-27 victory against Shadow Ridge at Allegiant Stadium.

Donavyn Pellot had two early touchdowns for the Skyhawks, and Jaden Thrower and Bryson Tunnell each had two scoring receptions.

It caps the first undefeated season in school history for Silverado, which opened in 1994.

The game changed at the end of the first half when Silverado forced a turnover on downs near midfield with less than a minute remaining before halftime. Caden Harris rushed in from a 13-yard touchdown for a 31-14 halftime lead.

Check back later for more for this game and the final game of the day, the class 3A battle between Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley

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Two possessions. Two Donavyn Pellot touchdowns. Two point after touchdown misses.

Silverado has extended its lead to 12-0 over Shadow Ridge in the class 4A high school football state championship game, as Pellot caught a long pass from Brandon Tunnell and maneuvered his way into the end zone for a touchdown and 12-0 lead.

Pellot scored earlier in the game on a short run.

Silverado, though, hasn’t been able to convert the point after touchdown attempt in missing a kick and 2-point conversion. Still, a double digit lead in the first quarter is a great start.

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A short touchdown run from Donavyn Pellot has given the Silverado football team a 6-0 lead against Shadow Ridge in the class 4A state championship game at Allegiant Stadium.

Silverado’s Jaden Thrower returned the opening kickoff to midfield, and Brandon Tunnell hooked up with Pellot on a 23-yard completion to bring the ball to inside the Shadow Ridge 20.

This is the second meeting between the schools, with Silverado winning 50-29 in late August. It was arguably Silverado’s stiffest challenge of the season.

The Skyhawks are looking to cap their undefeated season and win the school’s first football championship since opening in 1994.

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Bishop Gorman has officially recaptured its claim as Nevada’s best high school football team.

The Gaels made quick work of Reno’s McQueen High today in the class 5A state championship game at Allegiant Stadium, racing out to a 42-0 lead by halftime and emptying its bench in the second half on the way to a 56-7 victory and state championship.

The Gaels hadn’t won the title since 2018, the last in their run of 10 consecutive crowns. A new streak starts today.

Micah Alejado had touchdown passes to Jonathan Brady, Zach Branch and Maleik Pabon, and backup quarterback Styles Stockham had a touchdown run and scoring strike to Elija Lofton.

Check back later for more coverage, as Shadow Ridge and Silverado play next in the class 4A game.

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Bishop Gorman is making quick work of McQueen in the class 5A state championship game at Allegiant Stadium.

Sophomore quarterback Micah Alejado accounted for three first-half touchdown passes, the last a 5-yard scoring strike to Zach Branch in the closing seconds of the second quarter for a 42-0 halftime lead.

Alejado also connected with Jonathan Brady and Maleik Pabon for touchdowns, and Cam Barfield and Jake Taylor had short scoring runs. Taylor, the Gaels’ All-American offensive lineman, lined up at fullback and received the carry for Gorman’s initial score of the game.

The second half could be played under the mercy rule of a running clock, which is triggered when one team leads by 35 or more points. But the mercy rule only comes into play in the state championship game if both teams agree

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Bishop Gorman has taken a commanding lead in the class 5A state championship game against McQueen, using touchdown receptions from Jonathan Brady and Maleik Pabon to pad its lead to 28-0 with eight minutes to play in the second quarter.

Both touchdowns came on passes from sophomore Micah Alejado, who zipped a strike to a streaking Brady coming over the middle of the field, and Brady did the rest in outracing the McQueen defense to the end zone for a 61-yard score.

Gorman also scored when linebacker Jamih Otis scooped up a fumble and returned it about 15 yards for the four touchdown advantage. After the play, the McQueen coach had to be held back while confronting officials. He was ejected.

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Bishop Gorman has scored first in the class 5A state championship game against McQueen, receiving a touchdown from an unlikely source — offensive lineman Jake Taylor.

Taylor lined up at fullback and scored on a 5-yard plunge to put the Gaels ahead 7-0 with 7:30 remaining in the first quarter.

A Micah Alejado pass of about 15 yards to Jonathan Brady brought the ball to the McQueen 5, and on the next play bulldozed into the end zone. It was likely the Oklahoma pledge’s first high school carry.

Gorman twice earlier in the game had touchdowns called back on penalties, erasing a run of about 50 yards from Alejado and a catch-and-run of about 75 yards from Zach Branch.

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The Bishop Gorman High football team is playing for its first state championship since 2018.

Yes, the same program that won 10 consecutive championships through 2018, three mythical national titles and had a 55-game winning streak in a rise to prominence could end a title drought today — if a couple years without a title qualifies as a drought.

The Gaels lost to Liberty in the 2019 playoffs, and the 2020 season was canceled because of the pandemic, bringing us to today’s class 5A state championship game against Reno’s McQueen at Allegiant Stadium. The game starts at 12:20 p.m., the second of four championship games on the big stage of the Raiders’ nearly $2 billion facility.

Gorman isn’t expected to receive much of a challenge from McQueen, although the Lancers enter with a 10-1 record and have outscored opponents 421-151 in the season.

Gorman has surrendered just 20 points to in-state competition over eight games, including six consecutive shutouts. It’s only surrendered 93 points on the season.

The class 4A title game between Shadow Ridge and undefeated Silverado follows, giving another Las Vegas area program a chance for a championship in the first season of the reimagined classification. Powers like Gorman, Liberty and Arbor View were promoted to the large-school class 5A, opening the doors for programs like Silverado to have a memorable playoff run.

The nightcap at 7 p.m. is for the class 3A title between rivals Moapa Valley of Overton and Virgin Valley of Mesquite.

We’ll keep everyone posted as scores become final.