Football comes to an end; next year will be better

Football has basically come to an end in high school with just the 4A state title to be decided on Dec. 3 at Sam Boyd Stadium.

What a year it has been!

Everyone is talking about the 1A state title game because Pahranagat Valley’s 104-game streak came to an end.

What a string of wins this school has put together. The streak ended when Pahranagat Valley lost to Spring Mountain 68-46, in the 1A state championship game on Saturday at Clark High School.

It was a surprise ending to a remarkable year in high school football.

Regardless of what you think of the school, it was truly an impressive feat for them to come out each year and win game after game. This shocked the high school sports world when the streak ended.

The Pahranagat Valley program is the envy of the league.

Leo Verzilli, the Beatty High School football coach, who has to play Pahranagat Valley every year, was surprised by the loss and gave that program a lot of credit.

“No, I didn’t think they would lose, you’ve got to give kudos to Spring Mountain,” Verzilli said. “They had a loaded team this year. Their QB was a man amongst boys and their receivers were tall and fast. Hell, the whole team was fast.”

Verzilli said the Panthers had some quick players but they couldn’t outrun Spring Mountain.

Verzilli said that Pahranagat Valley was a class act.

“Alamo is doing great things with their sports programs and they teach more than sports,” he said. “I have talked to those guys up there for a few years now and you can’t help to like them and what they stand for. It runs deeper than wins and losses.”

Verzilli added that the Panthers will just start another streak. Next year Tonopah and Beatty will renew their rivalry with the Panthers knowing the fact that they do lose.

So that was the surprise ending for 1A. The 3A state final was not a surprise as Desert Pines finally won their first football state title.

Do we care what happens to Bishop Gorman? Not too many people around here care. They will play Arbor View, and McQueen High School will play Liberty. The winners will meet next week at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Pahrump will someday win a state title. We have never done it here, but we have all the basics. In other words, the seeds have been planted. Those seeds start with grooming the younger kids to play. That’s how Pahranagat Valley started. They groom their kids to play the game.

Pahrump coaches have started the same thing at the youth level.

I also have to give the Rosemary Clarke Middle School’s team, the Sharks, some credit too. Sharks coach Dave Wright keeps the middle school team going. I am not sure how they keep the team going with the cost of running the team and there being fewer teams to play at the middle school level. But it is important to have that middle school team going. Wright has the kids use the same plays and terminology as the high school.

So with all the basics there and this year being a winning season it all has to do with keeping the momentum going.

Like the wrestling program, the football team will start to show dividends. I want to be there the day Pahrump wins its first state title.

Small-town football is the best brand of football. It’s better than the NFL. Almost anything can happen at the high school level. The kids are intense. It’s football in its rawest and purest form. There is nothing like it. The energy that surrounds our team is remarkable. The fans that come out to each game are truly remarkable. So much so you would think that we already have that state championship.

Pahrump, keep dreaming for that day will come soon.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com