The Trojans football team is coming off a tough road win against Del Sol and are looking to use that momentum to beat Sunrise Mountain at home for their first home game of the season.
The Miners play in the Division I-A Sunrise League and are also 1-0 overall. Action will be on Friday night at 7 p.m.
Last week the Trojans had a balanced attack against Del Sol, passing (136 yards) and rushing (118 yards) effectively. Trojans fans can expect more of the same this week.
Quarterback TJ Milk aired it out against Del Sol. Look for him to get more passing yards this week because Sunrise Mountain has a young backfield with little experience. Pahrump’s spread offense should open more lanes for Daniel Kinkade and Tommy Gascoigne to tack on more yards.
As far as injuries, Head coach Adam Gent said his team is healthy except for Jake LaBarbera, who will be out with a dislocated knee. He is currently awaiting an MRI.
What to expect from the Miners:
According to Gent, the Miners are a well-coached team and will come after Pahrump using a spread-read option offense.
“They will be running the ball and have athletic running backs,” Gent said. “The quarterback also likes to run and ran for over 100 yards last week.”
He said his team will need to stop the run first, but will be ready for the pass.
“Our boys are ready,” Gent said. “We did a lot of film work. To stop the run we will just keep things simple.”
By simple Gent is referring to how some high schools are looking to better stop a spread offense and they will turn to college sets. The problem being, to run some of those defenses you need to have college athletes that can cover more ground.
The Trojans can expect to see more passing from Sunrise Mountain because Sunrise Mountain threw for three TDs. They didn’t pass against Western because there was no need to do so. The Miners beat Western 54-6 and did it by rushing for 436 yards.
Sunrise Mountain running back Claude Moore rushed for 162 yards and was the lead rusher for the Miners.
Sunrise Mountain expects to do better this year in Miner Coach Chris Sawyer’s second year. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the team has more talent this year on offense.
“The second year is always better than the first,” Sawyer told the Las Vegas Sun. “Our kids are putting in the work that’s required to be successful. I can’t ask them for any more than they have done. We are just a better team.”
Trojans fans, this Sunrise Mountain team is a hungry club. They have only won 4 games going back to 2012. This year for the first time their football program has expanded to over 100 players, so they have a bit more talent to choose from.
The winner of this game will be the team that executes and makes the fewest mistakes. Special teams will make a difference in this game.