Shadow Ridge senior Jaylani Palmer turned a tipped pass into a 61-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, and the Mustangs’ defense did the rest in a 12-0 shutout of Bishop Gorman to win the Class 5A flag football state championship Thursday at Allegiant Stadium.
Palmer finished with six catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns, including a 22-yard scoring grab in the first quarter, and also intercepted a pass. Her spectacular catch-and-run in the third quarter put the No. 2-seeded Mustangs (21-2) up 12-0 and proved to be the final scoring of the game.
“I thought it was going to be a pick at first, but I just saw the ball, I caught it,” Palmer said. “I started cutting up, and I saw the safety coming down on the field, so I just cut back. I just kept running.”
The title is the fourth for Shadow Ridge, tying Virgin Valley for the most in state history. The Mustangs had won three straight titles before being denied a chance to play at Allegiant Stadium last season.
“It was frustrating; we won three in a row, and none of them were in Allegiant,” said coach Matt Nighswonger, who earned his 170th career victory, becoming Nevada’s winningest flag football coach. “The one year we didn’t make it, it was here last year. But I’m really glad that we got another chance to come back into Allegiant and win it here.”
Bishop Gorman (15-5) entered as the No. 5 seed after an upset of top-seeded Arbor View in the semifinals. The Gaels had several scoring chances but were turned away each time by the Mustangs’ defense. In the first quarter, trailing 6-0, Gorman drove to the Shadow Ridge 15-yard line before quarterback Avery Reed was intercepted by Claudia Parker. Another drive late in the first half ended on fourth down at the 13-yard line after a high snap went over Zehani English’s head.
Palmer’s interception in the third quarter came at the Mustangs’ goal line, and Shadow Ridge added two more fourth-down stops in the fourth quarter to preserve the shutout.
“It was hard. We watched film of the last few games where they really had to come back; the deep ball is what beat those other teams,” Nighswonger said. “We did give up some of those underneath ones, and sometimes you get frustrated, but we were OK bending and not breaking.”
Chloe Covington completed 11 of 16 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns for Shadow Ridge. English threw for 191 yards and Reed 70 for the Gaels, with Preseah Williams catching nine passes for 119 yards.
