Shadow Ridge Flag Football defeats Foothill High School 24-6 in the Nevada state semi finals allowing them to advance to the state finals on Friday February 17th at 8 pm at the Raiders practice facility. Shadow Ridge pulled through with a big win against Foothill preparing them to play against Bishop Gorman High School for the state title. Team chemistry has been a common theme pulling them throughout the season.

“Our biggest strengths in the game against Foothill was how good our team came together and played for each other as well as having each other’s backs on the field,” says senior Mikayla Lucas. 

Defeating Bishop Gorman is the only thing on these girls’ minds, they’ve already done it twice and have their sights set on a third win. 

“We are going to come in more confident against Gorman and we will be even more prepared than last time,” says senior Megan Reynolds. 

The Mustangs individual performances pull together their team dynamic. Every girl doing their job makes the Mustangs  lethal. 

“Our defense was really swag,” says senior Soriya Ritchie. “Everyone was doing their job.”

People doing their jobs on both sides of the ball is what brings the Mustangs so much success. Neither the offense or the defense wins games, the Mustangs as a whole win games. 

‘I think our defense did a great job of keeping them from scoring and our offense went out and executed,” says Reynolds.

With any big game comes the pressure to perform, for the Mustangs it is no different. For Reynolds, it is no different. 

“Honestly, I’m definitely feeling the pressure. It’s a combination of nerves and excitement,” says Reynolds.  

Nerves are not something that can slow these girls down. 

“I have a lot of pressure going into this State game because we do want to win state back to back. Although we are nervous we will let that fuel our energy,” says Lucas. 

For many seniors, this is their chance to make The Ridge proud one last time.

“We are defending the Ridge.  I feel the pressure to win because it is an expectation I have set for myself.  It will be my last game as a member of a team at Shadow Ridge,” says Ritchie.  

Behind every team is a dedicated coach. For the Mustangs, Coach Matthew Nighswonger is ready to take on every challenge for these girls. 

“I don’t really feel pressure to win, I feel pressure to make sure we are prepared with just one day of preparation. I try to make sure the girls don’t feel pressure. I keep telling them to just play to their abilities and play their game. They don’t need to be any more than who they are,” says Coach Nighswonger. 

Coach Nighswonger has the utmost confidence in his girls to fight until the finish.

“If we play up to our ability then we will have a good chance to win the title again,” says Nighswonger. 

Good luck in the State Finals Mustangs!

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The best part about flag is that our team is like a family on an off the field we are always looking out for each other.

— Megan Reynolds