Slam football rallies late to beat Moapa Valley

The Slam Nevada football team found a way to win on Friday night.

The Bulls were arguably outplayed during the second and third quarters in a 16-14 win over Moapa Valley in a showdown of Class 3A powers, but

rallied when it counted with nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter to grab a critical conference win. 

The result gives the Bulls an inside track at winning the 3A Southern League and having home field advantage throughout the postseason. That means not having to travel to Northern Nevada.

Coach Mike Cofer, however, has a different take. 

When asked about a more simple path in the postseason, he said the win gave the Bulls “a clear path to next week.”

In the Class 3A, he argues, there are no easy games — especially when having to travel to outskirt cities like Mesquite and Overton. More important: There is still plenty of football to be played.

“This was a damn good high school football game,” Cofer said. “Proud of our young men. That’s a tough, physical football team over there and they had us on the ropes.”

Alaijah Young had a short touchdown run for Slam with 7:17 remaining to even the score at 14-14. 

Slam recorded a defensive stop on the ensuing possession to force Moapa Valley to punt. Moapa Valley had an errant snap that sailed into the endzone for a safety and Slam’s winning points.

Young created Slam’s first touchdown when he scrambled out of the pocket and found Damien Nevil darting down the sideline for a scoring strike of about 35 yards for a 7-0 advantage.

But Slam couldn’t contain the momentum.

Moapa Valley was at a size disadvantage on the offensive line, but still managed to control the line of scrimmage to create running lanes. And the Pirates played with more pace in controlling the game’s momentum.

That led to touchdown runs from Gavyn Frederick and Talon Schraft for a 14-7 halftime lead.

Moapa Valley continued to apply pressure in the third quarter and nearly extended the lead to two touchdowns. But Slam’s Malik Kotoch ripped the ball out of the hands of a Moapa Valley receiver and the Bull suddenly had life.

“Credit to our coaches,” Young said. “They prepared us all week to know what to expect. Our defense was ready. They stepped up when (the offense) wasn’t moving the ball.”

The back and forth game is likely a preview of the remainder of the season in the classification. Back-to-back defending state champion Truckee of the 3A Northern League is considered the favorite to repeat, but don’t count out the other schools.

Slam, after all, showed Friday it has plenty of fight.

“Proud of our kids,” Cofer said. “They could have tucked their tails and quit playing.”