Methodical Pirates shut out Trojans in opener

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

For the 24th consecutive meeting, the Moapa Valley High School football team defeated Pahrump Valley, this time holding the Trojans’ ground-oriented attack to 85 yards rushing and making the key plays on both sides of the ball to post a 36-0 victory Friday night at Trojan Field.

But this game bore little resemblance to the teams’ last meeting, despite the similar final score. The Pirates put away that 35-0 playoff game before halftime; this time, it was anything but a start-to-finish blowout.

“We never felt like we were out of the game until late,” Pahrump Valley coach Joe Clayton said.

In fact, the Trojans were in position to make a game of it near halftime. Sophomore quarterback Makoa Batongbacal lofted a picture-perfect pass to senior Andrew Avena for a 35-yard gain to the Moapa Valley 7 late in the second quarter. With the Trojans due to receive the second-half kickoff, the Pirates’ 14-0 lead was in jeopardy.

But after two plays left the Trojans with a third-and-goal at the 8, Moapa Valley defensive back Austin Heiselbetz picked off a pass in the end zone to end the threat.

“The interception was a back-breaker,” Clayton said. “I was anticipating a 14-8 halftime score. That hurt.”

After the Trojans went three-and-out to open the third quarter, a weak punt and a penalty gave the Pirates the ball at the Pahrump Valley 14. One play later, Payton Neilson found Justin Proffitt for a touchdown and a 22-0 Moapa Valley lead.

Perhaps the best part of the game for the Trojans was their run defense. Seven times the Trojans stopped the Pirates for no gain on a rushing play, including on consecutive plays inside their own 1-yard line on two separate drives.

“Run defense was solid, and overall the effort was there,” Clayton said. “We had too many penalties and mental mistakes when it came to blocking assignments on various plays.”

The Trojans will be back at home for a 7 p.m. Friday game against Virgin Valley.

Girls volleyball

A week after dispatching Pinecrest Academy Cadence, allowing just 25 points in a three-set sweep, Pahrump Valley sent out a different group to take on the Cougars.

The result was, if not the same, pretty similar.

The Trojans lost the opening set 26-24 then reeled off 25-15, 25-15 and 25-13 wins to improve to 3-2.

Although Cadence is a young program, the Trojans and Cougars would have been Class 3A Mountain League rivals for the first time this season had it been a normal year. Pinecrest’s Sloan Canyon campus would have been playing an independent schedule.

Next up for the Trojans is a home match at 5 p.m. today against Amplus Academy, another fledgling program that is not yet a full-fledged NIAA member. The Archers are 1-6, defeating only SLAM Nevada, which plays Pahrump Valley at 6 p.m. Friday in Henderson.

Boys soccer

Junior Chris Briscoe and sophomores Gonzalo Gonzalez and Bryan Martinez scored first-half goals Friday and the Trojans hung on for a 3-2 win over Moapa Valley for their first win of the season.

Martinez’s goal came on a penalty kick, and he also recorded an assist for the Trojans. Senior Pablo Castro also assisted on a goal for Pahrump Valley, while keepers Ulises Salazar and Favian Romero shared time in goal.

The Trojans followed that up with a 6-0 loss Monday at Bishop Gorman.

Pahrump Valley’s next opponent will be SLAM Nevada at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Henderson. The next home game will be March 30 against Moapa Valley.

Girls soccer

For the fourth consecutive game, the Trojans played in a shutout, this time evening their record at 2-2 with an 11-0 rout of Equipo Academy on Friday.

Maddy Souza posted a hat trick with an assist to lead the Trojans, while Kaylee Mendoza added 2 goals and 2 assists and Adryanna Avena-Caraballo scored twice. Makayla Gent, Ally Rily, Sara Christiansen and Kailani Martinez also scored, while Christiansen posted 2 assists.

The Trojans, who held the Yeti without a shot on goal, played Moapa Valley at home Tuesday and will travel to Mesquite for a 5 p.m. Thursday game against Virgin Valley.

Cross country

Juniors Devin Varlack, Makani Araujo and Kaydance Hagerstrand again posted top-10 finishes to lead the Pahrump Valley cross country team in a Saturday meet hosted by Amplus Academy in Las Vegas.

Varlack ran fourth among 50 boys entrants, covering the 3,000-meter course in 9 minutes, 48.9 seconds. Ulises Sotelo was the Trojans’ No. 2, finishing 16th in 10:39.4, followed by freshman Nathaniel Roundy’s 19th-place finish in 10:53.8.

Araujo and Hagerstrand followed each other to the finish line, with Araujo in ninth at 13:16.0 and Hagerstrand in 10th at 13:21.8. Junior Stephanie Frias-Esparza placed 22nd with a time of 16:15.0 for Pahrump Valley, and sophomore Tia Jones ran 19:37.8 to finish 25th.

The Trojans will be at home for a morning meet Saturday.