By Breven Honda

When the Virgin Valley High School girls flag football team secured their second straight NIAA 3A State championship last year, they had to pull off a dramatic comeback victory.

This year, as a No. 1 seed from the Desert League in the 3A state tournament, the comeback heroics were not needed as the Bulldogs utilized their strong defense from beginning to end, defeating Boulder City, the other No. 1 seed from the Mountain League, 28-6, on Feb. 20 at home. 

“It’s amazing. It never gets old,” Virgin Valley head coach Joey Bowler said. “I think we’ve kind of set a tradition of winning for our program here. It feels great each time.

“I think we went in with a lot of confidence. We had that debacle in the state game last year where we had to come back and win. We told the girls, ‘We don’t want that scenario. We want to get ahead and stay ahead and not have to fight all the way.’”

After a first quarter without a single point, Virgin Valley found the end zone in the second, jumping out to a 15-0 lead entering halftime before adding their final 13 points in the third quarter.

Virgin Valley sophomore quarterback Davie Slack completed 15 of 25 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns. She also added nine carries and a touchdown in the 22-point win.

“Davey really stepped it up,” said assistant Robert Nelson, who coaches the offense. “We made a game plan going in. They changed their defense on us, and we had to adjust pretty quickly. She understood her role a lot better (this year) and when things had to change on the fly, she did a good job of stepping it up. I think she truly became a leader.”

Slack found fellow sophomore Linita Kioa a game-high six times for 115 yards and two touchdowns, including for a 46-yard completion. She also added three tackles and a sack defensively. 

“Linita is a baller. As a freshman, she saved our butts in that state game with her diving catch on her knees I think to tie it up,” Nelson said. “She’s a clutch player. She likes the competition. She likes it to be tight. She likes those big plays that she gets and it’s infectious. When she starts going ‘beast mode’ as we call it, the rest of the team follows.

“She’s been amazing on both sides of the ball. Her blitzing has been incredible this year. She’s a special player.”

The Eagles had no answer against the Bulldogs as they were unable to score until the fourth quarter on a deflected pass.

The Bulldogs, who defeated Doral Academy Red Rock, 59-6, in the quarterfinals and Moapa Valley, 27-12, in the semifinals, had four players record at least five tackles, led by senior Amparo Quirarte Aguilar and sophomore Denise Silveyra with six and senior Gentree Draney and junior Ari Easton with five. Junior Mercades Jordan added four tackles, including two sacks.

Easton also had two interceptions while Aguilar added two pass deflections.

“I felt like it should’ve been a shutout for the game that they played,” said Bowler, who led his defense to allow just five points per game. “The touchdown, they even played that awesome, but it’s been really good, and they’ve been tough all year.”

The Bulldog defense recorded 11 shutouts in 23 games this season, including not allowing a point in six straight games and nine of 10 from Jan. 8 to Feb. 6.

Furthermore, the Virgin Valley offense scored 803 points compared to allowing just 124 on the defensive side.

“They’ll be in the record books,” Bowler said. “I think it’s the second best. It’s about 4.4 points a game, you’re playing dang good in this flag. It’s been a really tight, really good group. Their goal is not to let anyone score and they did a great job. Anytime you give up less than five points a game, you’re playing great defense.”

In addition, the home domination was not only prevalent in the championship, but the entire season, going a perfect 11-0 on their home turf.

Bowler said playing at home, including during the playoffs, was the advantage they needed to secure a third straight state title.

“We like our home field like everyone else,” Bowler said. “It’s just a different field. The first (time) we saw that the number one seed would play the state game on their home field, we started on the girls said, ‘Hey, do you want to play here at home? Do you want to play state here?’ We started to drive that in, and everyone wanted to play here.”

Everyone also means the coaches, not only Bowler and Nelson.

Bowler said his coaching staff has that same mentality to mentor the players and go out and achieve that state championship every year.

“If we did not have the coaching staff that we have, it’s holistic” Bowler said. “We try to help each other. We wouldn’t be where we’re at without the coaches. There’s no jealousy, there’s no ‘me’, ‘I.’ It’s ‘we’ and we work together to develop the program and we’re good friends.”

As the calendar now flips to the offseason, Bowler, including Nelson, has their eyes set on camp in the summer as they look to go for a four-peat next season.

Also…

Virgin Valley secured another winter sports state title in boy’s wrestling in individual play on Feb. 16 in the 3A State Meet at Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse in Bullhead City, Ariz. Senior Gunner Cortez was the champion in the 150-pound weight class going undefeated in his matches, including defeating his final opponent by fall at the 35 second mark. 

In addition, fellow senior Ruben Silveyra placed second in the 157-pound weight class, losing in a tight, 5-4 decision in the finals.