Football Preview: Moapa Valley Pirates vs. Mater Academy East Las Vegas Knights
Two dominant signal callers in Talon Schraft and Daylin James are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Moapa Valley Pirates and the Mater Academy East Las Vegas Knights are set to duel on Saturday. Moapa Valley will be looking to keep their seven-game home win streak dating back to last season alive.
Moapa Valley is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They blew past Boulder City 49-6 at home on Friday. Considering the Pirates have won three contests by more than 26 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Moapa Valley's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Schraft, who rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and also threw for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Another back making a difference was Caden Rawson, who gained 90 total yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Moapa Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 316 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 183 rushing yards in 16 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Moapa Valley wouldn't let Boulder City keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Moapa Valley can thank Christopher Piro and Jared Evans for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, Mater Academy East Las Vegas came up short against Pahrump Valley on Friday and fell 42-30.
Despite the loss, Mater Academy East Las Vegas got top-tier performance from James, who threw for 443 yards and three touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Jaden Houston was James' top target, picking up 169 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Moapa Valley's victory bumped their record up to 5-1. As for Mater Academy East Las Vegas, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-3.
Saturday's match might be decided in the trenches. Moapa Valley has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 279 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Mater Academy East Las Vegas, though, as they've been averaging only 88.8. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Everything came up roses for Moapa Valley against Mater Academy East Las Vegas in their previous matchup back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 49-15 win. In that matchup, Moapa Valley amassed a halftime lead of 35-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Saturday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
