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Watching archrival Moapa Valley win the state championship last year gave Virgin Valley a new perspective.
More expressly, it provided urgency to the Bulldogs, which haven’t prevailed in the annual “Hammer Game” against the Pirates in a decade.
“We’ve got to make that Moapa game a rivalry again,” Virgin Valley coach Yori Ludvigson said. “They’ve beaten us since these kids were drinking milk and taking naps in kindergarten, I think. It’s time to step up, compete and play with those top teams.”
Not being able to compete with the upper half of the Division 1A Sunrise region was precisely the Bulldogs’ failing in Ludvigson’s first year, as they missed the playoffs for the first time in three seasons with a 4-5 record. Ludvigson was a late hire before the 2014 season, which he thinks cost the team dearly.
They started at a disadvantage, and never caught up.
“It was nice to have an offseason this year, get them in the weight room all year and be able to throw a little bit this spring and stuff,” Ludvigson said.
The players cited playing in offseason 7-on-7 competitions as a place where they improved drastically. Junior quarterback Hogan Fowles regularly zipped passes into a variety of targets, including 6-foot-3 270-pound college prospect tight end Chase Henderson.
Fowles’ receivers in the passing leagues included seniors Josh Bishop, Garrett Hafen and Cody Jones.
“I think we’re going to be able to score a lot more points this year,” Bishop said.
At the least, Ludvigson is stressing cutting down turnovers as one of the keys to the season. Interceptions were a recurring issue last season that often doomed the Bulldogs to big deficits early in games.
“We threw it to the other team more than we threw it to ourselves,” Ludvigson cracked. “I didn’t realize my quarterback was colorblind until the last game. That would have helped me.”
Virgin Valley will again feature a bruising running game. It might not have the speed of some opponents, but senior Kai Mitchell will have the luxury of running behind an offensive line heavy on experience.
“We feel like what we lack in speed we bring in mental toughness and stuff like that,” Hafen said. “We’re a small town, a close band of brothers we like to call ourselves.”
The Bulldogs are setting their sights higher than a mere turnaround. One of the team’s goals is to win the Sunrise region.
To accomplish that, Virgin Valley would have to stop the streak and upset defending state champion Moapa Valley.
“There’s a lot of energy, you can feel the crowd,” Bishop said of the Hammer Game. “It’s a different level than the rest of the games you played. There’s just so much intensity and excitement.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.