Bulldogs rally for late win

As the fourth quarter neared its midway point Saturday, Virgin Valley’s chances of retaining its Class 3A state football title looked bleak.

But the Bulldogs rallied for two late touchdowns and then held off a last-second Fernley rally to defeat the Vaqueros 35-34 in the state semifinals in Mesquite.

The Bulldogs (11-1) will play Southern League rival Moapa Valley (8-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Clark. The Pirates also rallied for two fourth-quarter touchdowns Saturday, beating Spring Creek, 21-20.

“It’s something else. They never put their head down and (they) came through,” Virgin Valley coach Kirk Hafen said. “We’ve never in the past been able to come back from a 14-point deficit in that short an amount of time.”

With his team trailing 34-20, Virgin Valley quarterback Doug Hafen lateraled the ball to receiver Terran Leavitt. Leavitt, who had dropped a pair of passes in key situations earlier in the game, threw the ball down field to Jonathan Gleave for a 63-yard touchdown, and Jesus Gaytan’s extra point made it 34-27 with 6:29 to go.

“His head was down a little bit,” Kirk Hafen said of Leavitt. “It’s just one of those things we’ve had in (the playbook) all year, and the timing was just right.”

The Bulldogs got the ball back with 5:08 remaining and drove 71 yards on 11 plays, capped by a 5-yard TD run by Colton Teerlink. After calling two timeouts, the Bulldogs elected to go for two, and Teerlink’s conversion made it 35-34 with 1:06 to play.

“I decided that before we even scored, that I was going to go for two,” said Kirk Hafen, who noted that junior kicker Gaytan is in his first year playing football. “I didn’t want to put the pressure on him, especially with all the seniors we have up front on the line.”

The game was far from over, as the Vaqueros (7-4) drove to the Virgin Valley 5-yard line in just 26 seconds. But after taking its final timeout, Fernley was stopped for a 1-yard gain and had to spike the ball with 15 seconds left, setting up a third-and-goal from the 4.

A delay of game penalty pushed the ball back to the 9, and Doug Hafen intercepted a Bryce Baker pass in the end zone on fourth-and-goal with two seconds left to seal it. It was Hafen’s second interception

Teerlink finished with 151 yards on 31 carries for Virgin Valley, which had 500 yards of offense.

• Moapa Valley 21, Spring Creek 20 — At Spring Creek, the Pirates scored twice in the final three minutes to rally for the win in the other Class 3A semifinal.

With his team down 20-7, Moapa Valley’s Dustin Maletich caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Matt Jenkins to cut the lead to 20-14 with about three minutes to play.

The Pirates’ Cameron Lim then recovered an onside kick, and Moapa Valley drove down the field, with Brad Weiss scoring on a 4-yard run with 1:50 to play.

Jenkins turned the wrong way on the handoff but pitched to Weiss, who went around the end for the score.

“It was really a busted play we scored on,” Moapa Valley coach Brent Lewis said.

Weiss also had a 37-yard TD run for the Pirates, who lost 34-14 to Virgin Valley earlier this season.

• Tonopah 56, Coleville 16 — At Tonopah, the Muckers (11-1) scored five first-quarter touchdowns and rolled to the win in the Class 1A state semifinals.

Scott Thibodeaux rushed for 140 yards and two TDs and also passed for a score to lead the offense.

Tonopah plays Carlin (9-2) in the title game at noon Saturday at Damonte Ranch in Reno.

• Yerington 37, The Meadows 14 — At Yerington, the Lions jumped to a 30-7 halftime lead and rolled past the Mustangs in the Class 2A state semifinals.

Graham Hilts had a 21-yard TD run and a 41-yard TD pass to Guy Capanna lead the Mustangs.