Trojans defeat Eldorado on the ground in opener

Nico Velasquez led the Trojans with a 49-yard touchdown reception and a 99-yard kickoff return for a score as the Trojans crushed Eldorado 38-10 on Friday in their home opener.

Senior Case Murphy added two more TD runs and rushed for 38 yards for the night and the Trojans were able to keep the ball on the ground with the strong running of senior running back Aaron Fuentes, who ran for 101 yards rushing.

Trojans coach Joe Clayton was excited about his first win of the season.

“It felt really good to see the boys firing on all cylinders, right out of the starting gates,” he said. “All aspects of our game were on target, the kicking game, all special teams, defense and offense.”

Senior quarterback Parker Hart was also excited about the team’s first win.

“It felt great, it was a great team win,” Hart said. “Everyone contributed.”

Hart added, “It was good that we got our first win, now everyone knows what it feels like to win on the varsity level. It makes us want to work even harder so we can keep winning.”

In the first half Pahrump got on the board quickly due to excellent work by special teams and the Pahrump defense. Jesse Dillon blocked a punt on Eldorado’s first drive and Danny Kinkade ran the ball into the end zone for a TD. Then on the Eldorado’s second drive, the Sundevils muffed another punt and the Trojans took over the ball on the one-yard line. Case Murphy took the ball into the end zone for that TD and the Trojans led by 14 in the first two minutes of the game.

The Trojans defense held Eldorado scoreless for two quarters and nullified the Sundevil rushing game.

“Our plan was to put pressure on Eldorado and we got the results we were looking for,” Trojans coach Joe Clayton said. “We took advantage of every scoring opportunity on offense and made big plays on defense.”

The Trojans took a 35-3 lead into the second half.

The Sundevils, who couldn’t get anything going in the first half, had more success in the second half as they tried to take advantage of Pahrump penalties.

In the third quarter, after punting the ball away, the Trojans tackled the punt returner after he signaled for a fair catch and instead of having the ball somewhere near the 10-yard line, Eldorado started on their 30-yard line and took it down the field where the Trojans took over on downs on their own 13-yard line. Pahrump then marched down deep into Sundevil territory, where they scored their final score on a 29-yard field goal by senior kicker Joey Sladek to make it 38-3 to end the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Eldorado scored their only touchdown. They started on their 25-yard line and converted four first downs. The drive included a 23-yard pass from the 26-yard line to the 3-yard line. Sundevil quarterback Jaime Rangel then ran the ball in for their only TD of the game.

Hart felt his offense should have scored more in the second half.

“We can’t step off the gas pedal, there were some parts of the game Eldorado got some momentum,” Hart said.

After the last Eldorado score, Pahrump drove down the field and almost put the ball in the end zone again, but time expired.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com