Senior running back Junior Paongo receives a kickoff during a recent game. Paongo led the Bulldogs with 117 yards Friday night in a win over Boulder City 27-21. Photo by Lou Martin

Senior running back Junior Paongo receives a kickoff during a recent game. Paongo led the Bulldogs with 117 yards Friday night in a win over Boulder City 27-21. Photo by Lou Martin

It doesn’t happen often, but there are times when a win is also a loss as the Virgin Valley High School found out Friday night in Boulder City. The Bulldogs behind running back Junior Paongo and quarterback Tony Urias, who had their hands in all four scores, led the Dawgs to a 27-21 win. Paongo rushed for 117 yards on 15 carries and Urias was 4-7 for 63 yards but most importantly did not throw an interception. Despite losing to the Dawgs, the Eagles garnered the last spot for the 1-A Division playoffs. The Dawgs ended the season tied for fourth place with the Eagles but needed to win by 13 points to break the tie-breaker. The Eagles scored their final touchdown with 1:10 remaining in the game to move on to the playoffs.

The Dawgs got on the scoreboard first on an 8 yard strike from Urias to Diego Burriel with 4:25 remaining in the first half. Paongo upped the score to 14-0 a minute and a half later scooping up an Eagle fumble and rambling in from 33 yards out. Marcelo Lara kicked both extra points.

The Eagles cut the Bulldogs lead to 14-13 to begin the second half. Paongo would give the Bulldogs a little more breathing room going up the middle for 66 yards with 38 seconds remaining in the third period and a Dawg score. The extra point kick failed making the score 20-13 after three quarters of play. The Dawgs scored their last touchdown of the season on an 11 yard pass from Urias to Nick Cox making the score 27-13 with four minutes remaining in the game. The Eagles finished the scoring making the final tally 27-21.

Despite going 4-5 for the season, Bulldog coach Yori Ludvigson and his staff have a good nucleus of returning players for next season. The Bulldogs hopefully will return 33 players from this year’s varsity and J.V. squads. The junior varsity finished their undefeated season with a 27-0 win over Boulder City plus the freshman squad rolled over the Eagles 46-9 to end the season with an 8-0 record.