Trojans football battles through extreme temperatures at UNLV camp

Although temperatures exceeded 105 degrees, you wouldn’t have known it watching the Trojans football program compete Wednesday at UNLV.

Pahrump Valley joined Desert Hills, Silverado, Canyon Springs, Yuma Catholic, Sierra Vista and Spring Valley at the Fertitta Football Complex for Dan Mullen’s 7-on-7 and Big Man camp.

Mullen, entering his first season as UNLV’s head coach, and his staff are hosting several camps this June for local and national athletes.

Last weekend, the Rebels welcomed more than 900 high school players from across the West Coast and beyond for a mega camp.

Time to work

For the program, the camp was another step in a process that began long before spring practices resumed in March.

The Trojans arrived confident and ready to compete from the opening snap.

“I think this was good for the kids. It got them some competition at this time of year, and we weren’t going to get that at practice,” Trojans head coach Toby Henry said. “We’re just here to get better right now.”

Teams played four 20-minute pool-play exhibitions to determine tournament seeding, though Pahrump Valley only played three after Spring Valley forfeited its matchup.

The Trojans opened against Canyon Springs in a tightly contested 12-8 loss.

Junior quarterback Hunter Wydick connected on several deep passes to junior receivers Paul Walker, Aaron Rily and Lucas Gavenda. Rily scored Pahrump Valley’s lone touchdown on an out route near the sideline in the end zone.

Defensively, the Trojans swarmed to the football, with junior Tristan Schumacher and Walker breaking up multiple pass attempts.

“A lot of those guys on defense were starting as sophomores, and now they’re going to be seniors,” Henry said. “All those guys are picking up the defense really well. They’re getting better every day. It’s one of the better defenses I’ve seen in the last three years.”

Using the camp’s format as an opportunity to evaluate both signal callers, Henry rotated quarterbacks Ryan Hamlin and Wydick throughout the day.

“I think they both competed really hard,” Henry said. “They both had a lot of bright spots. The future is positive for us heading into the season.”

Game two brought another challenge against Desert Hills (B) from St. George, Utah. The Thunder capitalized on openings downfield, exposing the Trojans over the top in a 21-8 victory.

Pahrump Valley’s highlight came on a deep touchdown strike from Hamlin to Gavenda.

The Trojans bounced back in their final pool-play game, defeating Silverado 12-7. A strategic timeout with 30 seconds remaining helped secure the win, while two interceptions — worth three points each under camp rules — proved decisive.

Pahrump Valley’s tournament run ended in the first round against top-seeded Sierra Vista, but not before pushing the eventual winner in a narrow 16-13 loss.

“We’re the smallest team out here and we could have beaten them right there,” Henry said. “We had the lead at the end, and they scored late. It was just good for these guys to get better and get some work in.”

Linemen make an impression

While the 7-on-7 competition highlighted the skill positions, offensive line coach George Baker was encouraged by what he saw from his linemen against larger opponents.

“Marlin Garcia got in there and came off the ball against a kid who probably outweighed him by about 125 pounds,” Baker said. “I’m sure that kid probably lifted more than him, too. But Marlin got underneath him, did his job, used proper technique and competed hard. I pulled him aside and told him that’s exactly what I want to see in our practices.”

Baker said one of the challenges during practices in Pahrump is getting players to maintain that same competitive edge against familiar teammates.

“Our guys know each other so well that sometimes they get comfortable,” Baker said. “We need that mentality every snap. When you’re going against somebody in practice, you’re making that guy better, too.”

Rather than demanding players follow one specific technique, Baker encourages them to learn from different coaches and competitors.

“If somebody shows you another way to get the job done and it works for you, then use it,” he said. “It’s not about my ego. It’s about getting better.”

Baker also pointed to Luca Blundo as a standout performer after showing noticeable growth from the spring.

Most importantly, Baker said the Trojans never backed down despite facing bigger, stronger competition throughout the day.

“There was no fear in their eyes,” he said. “Nobody was worried about the guy across from them being bigger. They just went out and competed.”

What’s ahead

The Trojans head to Utah Tech on June 20 for the Trailblazers’ 7-on-7 camp hosted at Greater Zion Stadium.

From there, the program will travel to Southern Utah University for their annual week-long camp during session #2 from July 13 to 16.

“The kids get to travel together, get a little bit of team unity going, and it’s really good for team-building. The team camp that we’ve been going to at SUU every year has been really great for these kids,” Henry said, “A lot of these kids, they never get to leave the state sometimes for sports. We get to leave the state this summer twice, and then in the season we get to leave and go to California for a game.”

Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X, Instagram and Tiktok @Pvtimes.sports.