Trojans clinch playoffs with win over Sundevils

The Pahrump Valley Trojans defeated the Eldorado High School Sundevils 40-0 on Friday night.

With the win on Friday, the Trojans have clinched the top seed for the 3A Southern - Mountain League. The team is now 3-3 on the season and have won three straight games after having started 0-3.

The team had to overcome a lot of adversity at the beginning of the season. Pahrump Valley’s first two games of the season were canceled due to positive COVID-19 cases between the schools.

Then, once they got word that they could start playing games, the team found out that head coach Joe Clayton tested positive and he wouldn’t be able to coach the team in their first two games.

Even with all of that happening, the team was able to turn it around and get back to their winning ways.

Since the Trojans won the top spot in their league, they will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs. In the second round, they will meet the winner of the second seed from the Desert League and the third seed from the Mountain League. This playoff game will be played at Pahrump Valley’s field on Friday, Nov. 5, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m.

Friday’s shutout win against Eldorado was led by senior fullback Zack Cuellar. He had 172 rushing yards on 13 carries with four touchdowns. This was his largest yardage total of the season for any game, smashing his previous high of 123 yards that was set against Boulder City.

Fellow senior running back Henry Amaya chipped in with 70 rushing yards on six attempts of his own. Amaya also came up big on the defensive side of the ball. He had one of the team’s four interceptions in the game.

Starting quarterback Scott Oscarson has been great for the Trojans offense this season. He is now 3-0 since taking over the starting quarterback role. Although he only completed one of his three pass attempts for a total of four yards, he was able to help out in the ground game with 47 rushing yards on six carries.

The Pahrump Valley Trojans close out the regular season this Friday, Oct. 22, when they travel to Valley High School to take on the Vikings. Valley is coming into the game with a 3-5 record after getting a close win over Rancho High School.

Contact Sports Editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com