Pirates rush for 370 yards, rout Faith Lutheran

Moapa Valley's Brad Weiss rushed for 209 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Pirates (4-2, 2-0 3A Southern League) to a 42-14 home victory over Faith Lutheran (4-3, 0-2) on Friday night.

Because of the windy conditions, the Pirates chose to play mainly on the ground. That plan paid off as Moapa Valley rushed for 370 yards and had 407 total yards of offense.

“On offense, our running game has been great these past couple weeks, and our offensive line is playing about as good as they can play,” Moapa Valley coach Brent Lewis said.

Towards the end of the first half, Moapa Valley’s Max Jenkins threw an interception that led to a Faith Lutheran TD, cutting the Moapa Valley lead to 21-7 at halftime.

Pirates safety Shaun Hilton intercepted a Joe Portaro pass on the third play of the second half returning it for a touchdown to put Moapa Valley up 28-7.

Moapa Valley intercepted three Portaro passes and recovered three Faith Lutheran fumbles.

The Pirates held the Crusaders to 9 rushing yards.

“We preached defense in practice all week,” Lewis said. “Our pass rush was great tonight and we were all over the QB.”