Good to be out there’: Faith Lutheran tops Moapa Valley in football’s return

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Wade Vandervort

A view of Faith Lutheran’s football field, Friday, Aug. 7, 2020.

Fri, Mar 12, 2021 (7:51 p.m.)

The scoreboard at Faith Lutheran showed the home team winning this high school football game.

But the Crusaders' 41-20 victory against Moapa Valley on Friday sure felt like a win for all of the participants because prep football — finally — was being played in Southern Nevada.

After the season was canceled last fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, a handful of local schools permitted to play opened a five-week spring season this week.

“It was good to be out there, that’s for sure,” said Brent Lewis, the Moapa Valley coach. “We hadn’t played football in a year and a half, and it showed.”

There will be no playoffs or standings — just five games and plenty of memories. Private schools Faith Lutheran, Bishop Gorman, The Meadows, along with small-town schools such as Moapa Valley and Pahrump are playing. Same for schools in Northern Nevada.

Las Vegas programs in the Clark County School District aren’t playing because they’ve yet to return to in-person learning, which is a requirement by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association to participate. Instead, they’ll have padded practice sessions in preparation for the upcoming fall season.

Faith Lutheran is making the most of its abbreviated season, using 15 carries for 147 yards and three touchdowns from Marcos Canales in the win over Moapa Valley.

Quarterback Grant Wood passed for 276 yards and three touchdowns, hooking up with Josh Goynes (four catches for 131 yards) and Jordan Pollard (85 yards) for scored.

Moapa Valley nearly executed a double pass for a touchdown on its initial play of the game, but the pass was intercepted. Canales for Faith Lutheran raced 66 yards for a touchdown on the ensuing possession to give the Crusaders the lead for good.

Moapa Valley scored touchdowns on a Cameron Reese pass to Austin Heiselbetz and a run from Jayme Carvajal.

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