Wildcats’ Bullock delivers
Las Vegas High School’s Reggie Bullock is a man of his word.
On Thursday, the senior running back told Wildcats coach Chris Faircloth he would deliver a win. On Friday night, Bullock made good on that promise.
Bullock rushed for 95 yards in the fourth quarter, including a go-ahead 17-yard touchdown run with 27 seconds to play, as the Wildcats rallied for a 35-28 home win over Del Sol (10-3). The win gave Las Vegas its sixth consecutive Sunrise title.
“I told Coach yesterday, I promised that we were going to get a win for him,” Bullock said.
Las Vegas (12-1) plays Palo Verde (13-0) at 1 p.m. on Nov. 29 at Arbor View, with the winner advancing to the Class 4A state title game on Dec. 6 in Reno.
The Wildcats trailed Del Sol 28-14 midway through the fourth quarter and looked to be out of it before scoring three TDs in the final 4:29.
“We were about as down and out as you could get,” Faircloth said. “But these kids, they never freaking quit. They just believe in what they do. Words can’t explain coming back in this one.”
A 51-yard run by Bullock helped set up a 20-yard TD run by quarterback Emir Lopez to make it 28-21 with 4:29 to play.
Las Vegas got the ball back with 3:02 to go, and Bullock’s 24-yard scamper led to another TD run by Lopez, this time from 16 yards out. Trevor Lowe’s extra point tied the game at 28 with 2:25 left.
“Reggie demands such a presence. Whenever he goes out somewhere, everybody flies to him, and it just opened it up for the quarterback,” Faircloth said. “Emir got that because of Reggie.”
Las Vegas forced another punt and took over at the Del Sol 43 with 1:46 to play.
That’s when Bullock, a transfer from Western, made sure of the victory, sprinting up the middle for a 17-yard touchdown with 27 seconds to play. Del Sol appeared to have him wrapped up at the 7, but Bullock ran through an arm tackle and dived across the goal line for the go-ahead score.
“That’s just him,” Faircloth said. “He just never shuts it down. He gives you his best every time he plays football. We’re very, very fortunate to have him.”
Bullock fought through a hip injury just to get back on the field this week. He said the injury was what made him promise Faircloth the win.
“I’ve been hurt since last week, and I’ve been fighting through the pain,” Bullock said. “And I just felt like I needed to let Coach know so he wouldn’t get down on me. So I promised him that I was going to do it, and we did it.”
Del Sol led 28-14 after Tayiib Dauda stripped Lopez and returned the fumble 62 yards for a score with 50.4 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Las Vegas had just 31 rushing yards through three quarters but finished with 162 yards on the ground, led by Bullock, who rushed for 113 yards and two TDs.
“Football is a game of momentum,” Del Sol coach Preston Goroff said. “It just seemed like we stalled on a couple drives and they were able to put some nice drives together. Bullock really got going in the fourth quarter, and we didn’t do a good job of playing the quarterback on the speed option.”
Lopez also passed for 190 yards, including a 52-yard TD pass to Marquan Major. Major had five catches for 109 yards.
Jon Kirschbaum rushed for 125 yards to lead Del Sol. Las Vegas held Derek Eamon, who rushed for 410 yards last week, to 85 yards on 27 carries.
