Wildcats clinch Northeast, knock Sundevils out of playoff hunt

The Eldorado football team arrived at Las Vegas on Thursday knowing a victory would put the Sundevils in the Class 4A Sunrise Region playoffs.

There was one problem, though. The No. 4 Wildcats came out with what coach Chris Faircloth called “our best effort of the year.”

Senior running back Reggie Bullock rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns as Las Vegas locked up the Northeast League title outright with a 52-15 win over the Sundevils.

The loss means Eldorado (4-6, 2-4) will miss the postseason altogether.

“We knew we had a lot at stake,” Sundevils coach Leon Evans said. “We would have liked to come out and play better more than anything. We knew we had to come out and couldn’t make any mistakes. A team like that, when it smells blood they jump on you and just keep pounding.”

Freshman Farrell Victor added a game-high 127 yards and two second-half touchdowns on 12 carries for the five-time defending Sunrise Region champion Wildcats (9-1, 6-0), who will host Foothill in the opening round of the playoffs next week.

“Hopefully we’re turning the corner,” Faircloth said. “This is how we want to end the season. We wanted to end the season playing Wildcat football. Hopefully it will carry on to the playoffs.”

Bullock scored on runs of 3 and 11 yards, and his 46-yard punt return set up Kevin Cormier’s 3-yard touchdown as Las Vegas jumped to a 21-0 lead. Quarterback Emir Lopez connected with Aaron Franklin for a 43-yard scoring strike on fourth-and-9 with 20.7 seconds left in the second quarter to put the Wildcats up 31-0 at the break.

But it was Las Vegas’ defense that stole the show in the first half. The Sundevils were held to 10 yards of offense and did not record a first down.

“That’s what we needed,” Bullock said. “Coach talked to us about how we had to step up on defense. We needed more excitement, and that’s what we did.”

Eldorado managed to break the shutout in the fourth quarter against the Wildcats’ second-string defense. Two plays after DeAndre Smith’s 48-yard run, quarterback Leslie Hildreth hit receiver Charles White for a 15-yard touchdown to make it 45-7. The same duo hooked up for a 21-yard score late in the fourth following Tone Gatewood’s 40-yard run to close out the scoring.

Smith finished with 70 yards rushing, and Gatewood added 60.

Despite the disappointing finish, the season still was a success for Eldorado. The Sundevils had five wins in the last three seasons combined. They also won their homecoming game for the first time in eight years, according to Evans.

“I’m excited about the direction of the program,” Evans said. “We made some milestones. We made some steps. We’re going to continue to work to get this thing back on track.”