Eureka football opens league play

The Vandal football team was 7-4 overall last season and finished first in the 1A West eight-player division. Eureka advanced to state but failed to score against Pahranagat Valley, which was the case in the regular season as well.

The Vandals lost five players to graduation but had four seniors return this season: quarterback and defensive back Joseph Minoletti, running back and linebacker Nathan Tudor, tight end and defensive end Alexander McKay and lineman Brendan Dickover. 

Six juniors join those seniors to lead the team, with three of them playing pivotal roles on the offensive and defensive lines. The freshman class consisted of just four players, but that’s how many sophomores returned this season, too.

Eureka High School football head coach Fred Minoletti hopes to see his team finish games after failing to do so in the first two games of the year.

“We started our season with two tough road games versus Alamo and Tonopah, which are two of the better teams in 1A this year. Both games were very close, and we had opportunities to win but ended up falling short in both,” he said.

The Pahranagat Valley game was especially disheartening, as the Vandals fell in double overtime, 28-26. Eureka failed to convert the two-point conversion to force a third overtime.

“The Alamo game was back and forth throughout the game with both teams moving the ball down the field but not able to punch [it] into the end zone…Tonopah was also very close throughout the game,” Minoletti said. “About midway through the fourth quarter we were down 26-28 and made a goalline, stand only to turn it over on our two-yard line on the next possession. Tonopah easily scored, and that basically sealed the game, as we were not able to bounce back.”

Eureka hosts Carlin to open league play on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. 

“We are working hard and hope to right the ship this Thursday,” Minoletti said.

The team is on the road for the rest of September, playing McDermitt on Sept. 20 and Wells on the 25th. The Vandals return home to face Owyhee on Oct. 3. 

Check EurekaSentinel.com for more sports updates.