Vega, Sunrise seniors top Sunset, 28-14

Basic quarterback Eddie Vega passed for 109 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Sunrise Region seniors to a 28-14 victory over the Sunset in the 41st West Charleston Lions Club Charity All-Star Football Game on Saturday night at Bishop Gorman.

Vega, who completed 6 of 10 passes with one interception, was named the game’s Overall Most Valuable Player.

“It feels really good. It feels good to be able to help with the Lions Club, and it was fun playing with all these guys from the different schools,” Vega said.

Vega hit leaping Basic receiver Darien Spencer for a 21-yard TD in the first quarter and Foothill receiver Kyle Keplinger with a 36-yard TD strike in the fourth.

Keplinger, who added a 39-yard TD run in the first quarter, was named the game’s Offensive MVP.

Defensive MVP went to Gorman linebacker Zach Hutchins. The Montana State signee returned an interception 52 yards for a score, and Arbor View’s Brian McIntyre hit the extra point to tie the game at 14 with 5 minutes, 18 seconds left in the third quarter.

But Las Vegas High running back Farrell Victor weaved his way for a 12-yard touchdown run with 48 seconds left in the third quarter as the Sunrise took a 21-14 lead.

Vega was a second-team All-Southeast League quarterback as a senior, and Saturday’s game provided another chance to shine.

Vega’s perfectly-placed 36-yard TD pass to Keplinger down the middle capped the scoring with 10:28 left in the game.

“I saw that the safety looked at me and then he realized he was beat, so he turned around and I just hit (Keplinger) right away as soon as I saw he was open,” Vega said.

Victor rushed for 82 yards and a TD on 17 carries for the Sunrise, and Del Sol’s Chris Marshall added 74 yards on 12 carries.

The Sunrise reached the end zone on its first two possessions, the first a four-play, 42-yard drive and the second a five-play, 79-yard drive.

“Everybody played great,” Vega said. “Our defense shut them out pretty much; they only allowed seven points, so big ups to the defense and big ups to our running backs.”

Gorman quarterback Makoa Tyndall fired an 8-yard touchdown pass to Mojave’s Bryant Lewis on a fourth-down play with 14 seconds left in the first half to help the Sunset pull within 14-7, but that was the Sunset’s only offensive TD.

Silverado’s Izaiah Thurmon rushed for 27 yards on four carries for the Sunrise.

Tyndall completed 10 of 27 passes for 70 yards with one TD and one interception for the Sunset. He connected with Cheyenne’s Kenneth Counts four times for 28 yards and Sierra Vista’s Matt Murphy-Smith two times for 27 yards.

Foothill’s Tyren Boykin had an interception and Silverado’s Coty Iwata recovered a fumble for the Sunrise defense, which held the Sunset to only 74 yards from scrimmage.

Gorman running back Shaquille Powell, who has signed with Duke, ran for 17 yards on four carries for the Sunset.

Proceeds from the game will go to charities including Blind Center of Nevada, Lions Burn Care Center at University Medical Center, Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation and Lions Camp Dat-So-La-Lee, a weeklong recreational summer camp for children of families in need.