Trojans can’t secure ball in 36-30 loss to Mater Academy East

The Pahrump Valley Trojans’s record slides to 2-3 after a loss on Friday to Mater Academy East on their home turf.

Head Coach Thom Walker said the Trojans needed to be more secure with the ball.

“We gotta pick ourselves up, go work, and get dialed in and focused,” he said after the game, reflecting after Friday’s 36-30 loss. “In practice we’ve got to do more ball control drills. We’ve got to shore up the turnovers. I don’t care what level it is, you can’t turn the ball over like that and expect to win.”

Early Success

The Trojans opened the first quarter with a bang after Brandon Ondrisko returned a punt all the way to the end zone. The subsequent 2-point conversion would be unsuccessful but the Trojans found themselves with a 6-0 lead.

The following drive for the Trojans would end after just one play when Pahrump Valley would fumble the ball that was recovered by Mater Academy East.

The Knights would capitalize on the turnover, scoring a touchdown and extra point that would put them up 7-6 to end the first quarter of play.

QB gets 2nd quarter TD

In the second quarter, the Trojans would get back in the scoring column. Sophomore quarterback Kayne Horibe would throw a touchdown pass. The successful 2-point conversion would put the Trojans up 14-7.

The next few drives would prove to be disastrous for the Trojans. Mater Academy East would quickly respond with a 60-yard touchdown pass of their own. Pahrump Valley blocked the PAT and stayed in the lead 14-13.

On the following drive on offense, the Trojans would put the ball on the turf and Mater Academy would scoop it up and take it all the way back for a defensive touchdown. The Knights would convert the 2-point conversion and take the lead 21-14.

At the half

The half would end after another Trojan fumble recovered by the Knights, but they could not convert the field goal.

The second half would see more of the same for Pahrump Valley fumbling the ball for a third time and the Knights would recover and convert on a passing touchdown and Mater Academy East would go into the fourth quarter with a 28-14 lead.

Pahrump Valley would start their fourth quarter rally earlier with a Kayne Horibe touchdown to LJ Reddick, and 2-point conversion just ten seconds into the quarter. The Trojans would fail to recover the onside kick.

Needing a stop on fourth down to get the ball back with 7:37 to go, the Knights would convert with a 32-yard rushing touchdown. A fake field goal would put Mater Academy East on top 36-22.

The Trojans, continuing the rally, would take a long drive but eventually find the end zone with another passing touchdown. They would convert the 2-point conversion and go into the kickoff down only six points with three timeouts.

The onside kick was unsuccessful and Pahrump Valley would need a quick stop to get the ball back with a chance to win. The stop would come but the Trojans would have 80 yards to find the end-zone with less than a minute to go.

The Trojans drove all the way down to the Mater Academy East 23-yard line but the drive would stall and Pahrump Valley would fall to the Knights 36-30.

The Pahrump Valley Trojans are on the road Friday, Sept. 29 against Democracy Prep Agassi (2-2).

Aaron Reed is a freelance sports journalist for the Pahrump Valley Times.