Pahrump Valley football gets early test against Galena

Pahrump Valley learned plenty of good things about itself in its season opener.

Friday night may tell the Trojans considerably more.

After controlling Providence Hall in a 29-6 victory last week, Pahrump Valley hosts Galena at 6 p.m. Friday in a matchup between two teams arriving from pretty much opposite directions.

The Trojans are coming off a convincing opening win that validated much of what coach Toby Henry had been seeing during the summer.

Galena is trying to put one of the most difficult seasons in the program’s recent history behind it.

That combination could make the Grizzlies exactly the sort of early-season test Henry said he wanted when Pahrump Valley deliberately loaded its nonleague schedule with opponents from larger classifications.

Going for Goliath

During the preseason, Henry said that a team facing competition from a bigger, less rural school could occasionally “knock them down a peg” and expose weaknesses before the games that will ultimately determine Pahrump Valley’s place in the Class 3A South.

Galena may be capable of doing exactly that.

The Grizzlies arrive in Pahrump after a dramatic two-year swing.

In 2024, Galena went 9-3, finished 5-0 in league play, won the Northern regional championship and advanced to the state championship game in what was then called 5A Division III.

It was the Grizzlies’ second straight trip to the Division III state championship game.

When Nevada reorganized its upper football classifications before the 2025 season, the old Division III level essentially became the new Class 4A. Galena instead landed in the stronger 5A Northern League.

The move did not go well.

The Grizzlies finished 3-6 overall and 0-5 in league play. In those five league games, they were outscored 226-44.

This fall, Galena is back in Class 4A.

So while Pahrump Valley enters Friday trying to build on a successful opener, Galena begins its season trying to show that last year was an aberration caused at least partly by the jump in classification.

Something to prove

Senior receiver and defensive back Lane Billau told Nevada Sports Net that the experience left the Grizzlies playing with “a chip on our shoulder.”

That makes Galena a potentially dangerous opponent for a Pahrump Valley team coming off a game in which almost everything went according to plan.

Against Providence Hall, the Trojans established a physical running game early and stayed with it.

Henry said afterward that the plan was simple: make Providence Hall tackle Pahrump Valley’s runners repeatedly and see whether the Patriots could continue doing it for four quarters.

“We wanted to make them tackle us,” Henry said.

By the end, he believed the strategy had taken its toll.

“They ran out of gas at the end,” Henry said.

Preston Dockter led the rushing attack, while sophomore quarterback Evan Strain gave Pahrump Valley enough of a passing threat to keep Providence Hall from committing entirely to stopping the run.

The Trojans also controlled the game defensively, holding the Patriots scoreless until the final play.

Galena should present a substantially different challenge, particularly near the line of scrimmage.

The Grizzlies return much of an experienced defensive front, including Adam Imse, Josiah Cameron, Hunter Bellin and James Dyer.

If Pahrump Valley intends to use the same formula that worked against Providence Hall — run the football, control possession and make the opponent absorb four quarters of physical play — Friday should provide a better indication of how well that approach holds up against a larger and more experienced front.

Experience counts

Galena also returns experience at the skill positions.

Billau led the Grizzlies last season with 430 receiving yards and four touchdowns and contributed 58 tackles and two interceptions on defense.

Senior Andrew Kennon gives Galena another two-way threat after catching 20 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown last season while also contributing in the secondary.

Junior Colton Smith takes over at quarterback after seeing varsity action in six games as a sophomore.

Despite last year’s struggles, the Grizzlies are not talking like a team simply hoping for a rebound.

Smith told Reno television station KOLO that Galena’s goal is to reach the state championship game and win it.

That would represent a rapid return to where the program stood only two seasons ago.

For Pahrump Valley, the stakes Friday are different.

Nothing about a nonleague game in August will determine whether the Trojans can eventually get through Moapa Valley, Virgin Valley and the rest of the 3A South.

But it can provide a hint.

Providence Hall showed that Pahrump Valley can impose its preferred style against an opponent that struggled the entire game to handle it.

Galena should show whether or not the Trojans can do the same thing against a program accustomed to playing larger schools, with experienced players returning and a miserable 2025 season supplying plenty of motivation.

Henry wanted the early schedule to challenge his team before league play arrived.

With Galena, he and his team may just get what they wished for — with the associated caveat that one should be careful about such things.

Contact sports reporter Bill Evans at wevans@pvtimes.com