Roundup: Late drive lifts Boulder City past unbeaten Virgin Valley
Boulder City quarterback Parker Reynolds bowed out of a joyous celebration Thursday night, opting instead for a conversation on a sideline bench with Eagles coach Chris Morelli after a 27-20 home victory over Virgin Valley.
His teammates were behind him, exchanging salutations with a rowdy student section. But Reynolds remained calm and relaxed.
Like he was while leading the game-winning drive that ignited said celebration.
Reynolds orchestrated a seven-play, 61-yard march in 1 minute, 57 seconds to help the Eagles (4-1, 1-0 Class 3A Sunrise League) stun the previously unbeaten Bulldogs (5-1, 0-1) in their league opener.
Running back Thorsten Balmer scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 1:06 to play.
“Big rival. First league game. We know we have the team to take them down,” said Reynolds, who passed for 106 yards and two touchdowns while running for another. “We pulled it off.”
The Bulldogs used a power-running scheme to open a 13-0 lead in the first half, but the Eagles chipped away behind Reynolds, who found a rhythm by completing short passes.
He completed a pair of scoring throws on seam routes — the first to Matt Morton and the second to Jimmy Dunagan. But the Bulldogs retook the lead late in the fourth quarter on a touchdown run by Wyatt Delano, who rushed for 136 yards.
“The team had a lot of momentum going, knowing they just scored and we had three minutes left,” Reynolds said. “We’ve got to go down and score. We wanted to win this game so bad.”
A couple hitch routes, a pass interference call and a pair of runs set the stage for Balmer’s touchdown run. Boulder City safety Matthew Felsenfeld sealed the comeback victory with an interception in the final seconds.
And Eagles faithful went ballistic.
“This is one of the biggest wins since I’ve been here,” said Morelli, now in his eighth year with the program. “It just kind of takes that doubt away. … A win like this kind of gives them that edge that we had been kind of missing for the last couple years.”
Needles 52, The Meadows 12 — At Needles, Marcus Turner scored three touchdowns to help the hosts to the victory.
Turner caught four passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 44 yards and a score. He had TD catches of 70 and 80 yards from Dawson Yeager.
Yeager completed 7 of 11 passes for 194 yards.
Nathan Parker rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown, and Tyler White ran for 67 yards and two scores for Needles.
Peter Hoskins had both TDs for The Meadows. He returned a kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown and also caught a 55-yard scoring pass from Corrigan.