Virgin Valley airs it out in win over Rancho

Meb Hollingshead threw for three touchdowns and ran for one as Virgin Valley beat host Rancho 35-0 on Friday.

The Bulldogs were coming off their first loss of the season, a 27-20 defeat at Boulder City, but quickly got back on track against the Rams.

Hollingshead was 9-for-15 passing for 196 yards as Virgin Valley (1-1 3A Sunrise League, 6-1) went to the air more.

“We wanted to get that bad taste out our mouths right away,” Bulldogs coach Matt Woods said. “We came out throwing through the air and work on that part of our game.”

Hollingshead first used his feet to get the Bulldogs on the board against the Rams (0-2, 1-6). Midway through the first quarter, Hollingshead faked a handoff on an option play and then weaved his way past several Ram defenders en route to a 24-yard touchdown run and a quick 7-0 lead.

From there, Virgin Valley went with the deep ball.

Hollingshead hit Jake Hampsten for a 68-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 with 4:24 left in the opening quarter. After Virgin Valley recovered a Rancho fumble, it took only a single play for Hollingshead to hit Case Crandall downfield for a 39-yard scoring play. Early in the second quarter, Hollingshead again found Hampsted deep on a 42-yard touchdown pass, building the lead 28-0 at the time.

Virgin Valley didn’t utilize fullback Wyatt Delano as much. The junior still finished with nine carries for 80 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown run with three minutes left in the first half.