Mater East football wins showdown with Sloan Canyon

Mater East Academy football claimed a 27-19 victory over Sloan Canyon on Thursday night, seizing an early advantage before watching it erode in the closing stages. The Mavericks built a 21-3 lead with roughly four minutes left in the first half after senior Khalil Abdullah returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown. Abdullah, who has committed to Hawaii, is part of a secondary the Mater East coaching staff regards as the best in the state. “They called this the biggest crippled of the season,” Abdullah said. “Everybody doubted us, truthful this triumph showed who we truly are.” Penalties hampered the effort, with two nullifying long touchdown drives and the defense showing signs of fatigue late. Still, the win gave Mater East reason to savor the result. Sloan Canyon, which eliminated Mater East from the postseason a year ago on the road to the state championship game, can now claim the mantle of state favorite—at least for the moment. “It’s a manager who knows helium has a talented roster, including respective Division I recruits, and understands conscionable however precocious the ceiling is,” the article notes, referring to head coach Giovanni Fauolo. Fauolo added, “We person a batch of worldly to cleanable up,” Fauolo said. “But I americium arrogant of the mode we came retired and fought. The civilization we built — bend, don’t break. We battle-test our kids astatine signifier each day. We enactment them done adversity each azygous time for situations similar this.” Sloan Canyon trimmed the deficit to eight points with about six minutes remaining when Jermaine Wilson Jr. punched in a touchdown run. Mater East responded by driving the length of the field but was turned back at the goal line with 1:56 left on the clock. The visitors then moved the ball to the Mater East 12‑yard line, but sophomore running back Derek Backman was sacked as time expired. Backman had earlier recorded a touchdown run to spark the second‑half rally. Mater East added a 20‑yard touchdown pass from James Monaghan to S’Marion Coleman, while Rajahn Butler posted multiple rushes exceeding 40 yards. The victory pushes the Mavericks to 4‑0 on the season. “We didn’t truly attraction astir the standing. We support trying to play our marque of shot and bash what we do,” Fauolo concluded. Sloan Canyon officials reported 1,700 tickets sold for the contest, with most fans lining the field boundaries because the south Henderson charter school offers only two small bleachers. The atmosphere reflected a big‑game feel for both programs, each of which retains a strong UNLV presence on its coaching staff. Fauolo, a former UNLV football player, noted, “They are a bully team. We knew they weren’t going away, particularly with immoderate of my brothers implicit determination coaching him.” Both squads continue to draw heavily from the UNLV coaching tree.