Miners win 3A state title
Staff Reports
RENO - The Bishop Manogue High football team left Mackay Stadium with its second straight 3A state championship Saturday evening, thanks to a 42-26 victory against Virgin Valley.
It could be the last 3A championship for the Miners, since Nevada Interscholastic Activities board members are scheduled to meet in early December to decide a proposal that would move Manogue into the 4A division.
No problem. The Miners are looking forward to the challenge.
"I can't wait for next year. Four-A, that's the next challenge," said Kenny Viser, a junior who rushed for one touchdown and scored another on a fumble recovery.
"We came to play, they came to play. It was a good game," Viser said. "It's very nice to win back-to-back. That makes it sweeter."
Senior quarterback Thomas Peregrin passed for 202 yards and two touchdowns and he ran for another score as the Miners (12-0) logged their 23rd straight victory over the last two seasons.
Saturday's state final against Virgin Valley (10-2) proved to be the stiffest challenge of the season for the Miners.
"We were in a football game," said coach Joe Sellers, whose team outscored 12 opponents 706-68 this season. "That was a tough game. They loaded up and came after us. They have tremendous quickness and we had to work hard all four quarters."
Viser rushed for 101 yards on 16 carries and scored on a 25-yard run to give Manogue a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. He had a 29-yard reception to set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Zach Higgins that gave Manogue a 42-18 lead with 1:48 left in the third quarter.
Nathan Mendiola caught five passes for 123 yards, including touchdown receptions of 9 yards in the first quarter and 47 yards in the second.
Manogue received the opening kickoff and drove for a touchdown to take a lead it never relinquished. The drive covered 51 yards in 12 plays and included four third-conversions before Peregrin threw a 9-yard scoring strike to Mendiola in the end zone. The touchdown came on a third-down play.
