Sunrise Mountain outlasted Valley 46-42 on Friday to capture the Division III Superintendent's Cup, marking the first football championship in the school's history. The Miners improved to 9-1, while Valley fell to 6-3 in a game coach Patrick Achord described as an "amazing ballgame" where his team could never land a knockout blow.
Five different Miners scored touchdowns. Malachi Thomas accounted for a receiving and a rushing score, while Zik Hutchinson caught seven passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. August Krael threw for two scores and ran for another, Kaylin Mills added a 3-yard rushing touchdown, and Jordan Scroggins returned a punt 55 yards for a score. Krael completed 17 of 22 passes for 181 yards.
Valley sophomore quarterback Nah'lage Butler kept the Vikings in contention, completing 11 of 24 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 57 yards and two more scores. "It's never over with him," Achord said. "He's a playmaker... He's going to be hard to defend the next couple of years."
Defensively, Julian Mejia sparked the Miners with two sacks, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble that led to Thomas' go-ahead 5-yard touchdown run with 3:44 remaining. "He's a dude," Achord said of Mejia, noting the linebacker benefited from playing alongside Roman Pulefaasisina.
Achord hopes the title helps build a winning tradition and boosts participation numbers for the program. The victory capped a championship Friday for Clark County schools, with Arbor View winning the Division I title and Green Valley claiming the Division II crown.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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