LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Eight high school teams got to play inside Allegiant Stadium on Tuesday in state finals, but only four could be crowned as champions.
Classes 1A, 3A, 4A, and 5A Division 1 were decided to end the high school football season — program history being made in the process for teams in our valley.
Starting in 5A-D1, Bishop Gorman went at it with Arbor View and continue to prove they're the cream of the crop in the Silver State, the Gaels enforcing their will from the jump. Gorman piling on the points, dominating the Aggies on both sides of the ball, leading 48-0 at half.
This one gets chippy, with even coaches chirping. Gorman wins this one 69-7 with a running clock, pitching a shutout until the final minutes. The Gaels claim their fourth straight title, now winning 15 of the past 17 state championships.
Here's a look at how Gorman felt about the season ahead this past summer:
“Playing here in this state is important to us. We want to play here at state, we want to have good rivalries, we want Liberty to be good next year, we want Arbor View to be good next year, I want these teams to be good, I want these games to be good. We need it. The sport of football needs it," said Gorman head coach Brent Browner.
It's a battle of North Las Vegas schools in 4A, Mojave clashing with Canyon Springs, and it would be all Rattlers from the get-go. Antwan Hawkins punching it in, then later, Mark Ames chunks it downfield and his target Ja'Laun Miller adjusts for the grab. Ames goes right back to him, rolling out, firing and Miller snares it.
14 nothing Rattlers at half and the crowd felt it. The Pioneers can't mount a comeback, Hawkins rumbling in for six to put his team's lead out of reach. Mojave wins 30-6 to claim their school's first-ever football state title.
“We finally did it. We validated our success with this game and what I thought about the most is all the hard work, these seniors especially, have done over the last four years. Kind of like that flashback moment of all the trials and tribulations, just to see these guys happy. We get that final prize and that’s what we work for right?” said Mojave head coach Wes Pacheco.
Earlier in the day in 3A, another valley team making program history with their school's first football state title — Slam Nevada rallied back from down 10, scoring 14 unanswered to beat back-to-back defending champ Truckee, the Bills snapping the Wolverines' 34-game win streak under their head coach who won two Super Bowls as the 49ers kicker.
"It all culminates in this and you just have to soak it in. If you don't soak it in now, something's wrong with you," Slam head coach Mike Cofer said. "At this point in my life this is way better than a Super Bowl. It takes so many people to have this happen, of having a football program at a school that doesn't have everything to really have one."
Tuesday morning, Pahranagat Valley won the 1A final to claim its 24th overall football state title.
