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Moapa Valley misses opportunities in I-A final

RENO — One play into the second half, momentum and the scoreboard were on the side of Moapa Valley's football team. Both proved to be fleeting.

Cade Vercellotti's 3-yard touchdown run on the second play of the fourth quarter stood up as the difference as Churchill County held on for a 34-27 victory over the Pirates in the Division I-A state championship game at Reno High School on Saturday.

"That one's going to sting a while," Moapa Valley coach Brent Lewis said. "It sucks that there has to be a loser in a game like that, but you know what, that's why we play."

Mistakes and missed opportunities plagued the Pirates throughout. Moapa Valley (11-2) was penalized 14 times for 122 yards and turned the ball over twice, including an interception at the Greenwave 1-yard line.

"Sometimes you get a call, sometimes you don't," Lewis said. "Some of them were self-inflicted obviously. I'll get a chance to look at the film, and most times I see what they see."

Vercellotti scored on two 3-yard runs in the second half for Churchill County, the first putting the Greenwave (12-1) ahead 27-20 and the second breaking a 27-27 tie.

A wobbly start left the Pirates staring at a 13-0 deficit, but they used two big plays to key their rally to a 20-19 lead on a 55-yard run by Sterling Simmons with 11:47 left in the third quarter.

R.J. Hubert broke loose for a 90-yard touchdown for Moapa Valley's first score with 10:16 left in the second quarter, and he had a 2-yard run with 33 seconds left in the first half to cut it to 19-13.

"We come out of the gates third quarter and took the lead, and you know what, I liked our chances at that point," Lewis said.

The Pirates might have had the lead at halftime, with better luck. Churchill County attacked aggressively after Hubert's score cut the lead to 19-13, but two incompletions left the Greenwave facing fourth down with 2 seconds left in the half. Trystin Deal broke through and blocked the punt, but stumbled and fell as he tried to scoop it up with a clear path to the end zone.

"Game of inches, man," Lewis said.

Hubert led the Pirates with 124 yards on 10 carries, and Simmons added 98 on 10 carries, but the Pirates had the ball for only 46 plays, compared to 77 for Churchill County. Greenwave quarterback Connor Richardson completed 24 of 36 passes for 278 yards. Vercellotti gained 113 yards on 28 carries.

"That quarterback is phenomenal. He seemed to hang in there and find his guy," Lewis said. "Our inability to cover was the difference in the game. It just seemed like we couldn't catch a break throughout the game."

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