DON McDERMOTT / PVT Mike Dolfin, 48, and Garrett Valenzuela, 17, stop Coleville, Calif., quarterback Jason Peters, in Tonopah's 52-16 rout of the visiting Wolves Saturday in a Nevada Class A Eight-Man football playoff game. Jose Arias, 61, moves in on the play for the Muckers, who play Carlin at noon Saturday at Damonte Ranch High School in Reno. Advertisement

TONOPAH -- Defense was the name of the game for Tonopah Saturday, in a 52-16 rout of Coleville, Calif., in a Nevada Class A Eight-Man football state semifinal game.

The victory vaulted the Muckers, 10-1, into the state finals at noon Saturday at Damonte Ranch High School in Reno. Carlin, 9-2, will be the opposition; the Railroaders stunned two-time state champion Pahranagat Valley Alamo 26-24 in the other semifinal game played Saturday.

While Coleville quarterback Jason Peters completed 23 of 59 passes for 301 yards and a touchdown, he had four intercepted and he was sacked seven times for 46 yards in losses.

"Coleville is a good team and pass the ball well, but our defense kept them out of the end zone," said Curt McElroy, the Muckers' coach. Coleville, in winning its first 10 games, averaged more 50 points per start, including a 52-38 conquest of Wells in a first-round game Nov. 3.

Peters connected with wideout Trevor Anderson on 12 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown, but that was about the only combination that worked for the Wolves, from eastern California.

Leading the Muckers' defense:

Cornerback Garrett Valenzuela had nine tackles, including six solo stops, and an interception;

Linebacker Mike Dolfin had two sacks among his eight tackles;

Tackle Jose Arias had six stops, including two sacks;

Ryan Misener had two interceptions, returning one 67 yards for a touchdown;

Safety Kevin Valentine had an interception, broke up nine passes, and had six solo tackles.

Playing Carlin isn't anything new for Tonopah; in September, the Muckers edged the Railroaders 14-8 in a regular-season defensive battle.

The teams clashed twice in 2006, with the Muckers bowing 62-58 in the regular season before outpointing the Railroaders 64-44 in the state semifinals.

In that latter clash, now graduated Muckers quarterback Mitch Lehner completed 30 of 43 passes for a state-record 645 yards and eight touchdowns. Senior Tyler Bessire had 14 catches for 241 yards in that game; he caught three passes for 33 yards against Coleville.

Scott Thibodeaux, a junior quarterback who runs the Tonopah version of Nevada's pistol offense, completed 8 of 14 pases for 122 yards and a touchdown, while rushing 12 times for 117 yards and two TDs.

Valentine (58 yards, TD), Steven Carnell (42 yards, TD) and Thibodeaux combined for 217 of the 223 yards rushing the Muckers generated. Misener had two catches for 57 yards and a touchdown.

NOTES -- Mesquite Virgin Valley and Overton Moapa Valley will play for the Nevada Class 3-A championship at 1 p.m. Saturday at Clark High School in Las Vegas ... The Bulldogs won 35-34 against visiting Fernley, while the Pirates won 21-20 at Spring Creek in semifinal games Saturday ...In Class 2-A, Yerington eliminated Las Vegas The Meadows 34-14, while Needles, Calif., stopped Yerington Rite of Passage 27-13 ... The 2-A title game is at 3 p.m. Saturday at Damonte Ranch ... Eight teams -- Reno McQueen, Galena, Las Vegas, Del Sol, Bishop Gorman, Cheyenne, Western and Palo Verde, remain in Class 4-A ... All eight play Friday night.