The Trojans take on the Mojave Rattlers in Las Vegas. This will be Pahrump’s true test of what kind of team they have. Mojave is coming off two solid wins. Their first win was against a team called Sky View from Idaho. The Rattlers went up north along with Faith Lutheran to play in a tournament. The team beat Sky View 48-40 in a shoot-out.
Mojave then came home and played the Chaparral Cowboys from the Sunrise League. That game was going smoothly until they lost their first string quarterback Zack Arave to a shoulder injury. The team resorted to their backup QB, Lamaja Cunningham, and he hung in there for the win. Arave had three completions for 66 yards and Cunningham had three completions for 31 yards.
Arave did pass, but the main attack for Mojave will be coming from Ty Flanagan, a senior. In just two games, Flanagan has 397-yards rushing. Last year he had 1,213-yards total rushing. Against the Trojans last year, Flanagan rushed for 14.3 yards per carry and had 143 yards against the Trojans defense. The Trojans have to be able to stop Flanagan if they want to beat Mojave. Mojave only completed one pass during that game. Pahrump got blanked 47-0 and had only 107 yards on offense.
This Friday it won’t be that lopsided. The Trojans defense is more geared to the run and has good speed to stop it. Again, the Trojans defense will have to be able to stop the quarterback and Flanagan. Cunningham in his first game as QB had 73-yards rushing on 15 attempts.
In addition, the Trojans offense is far better than last year. All of Mojave’s team is playing both ways and this should also be a major factor. Look for the Trojans to attack with the run with their speed to tire out the Mojave defenders. For the win, Harris, Estes and England have to rip some yardage and have a big game. Don’t look for a shut-out, Trojans will have a great day rushing and win it 35-28 in a close one.