Trojans face tough foe in Virgin Valley

This week’s playoff game features two hardcore running schools.

The Pahrump Valley High School football team travels to Mesquite to take on Virgin Valley in a Class 3A Southern Regional matchup.

The Trojans (4-5 overall, 2-3 Sunset League) are the fourth place team and the Bulldogs (6-3 overall, 2-1 Sunrise League) are the first place team.

According to Trojans head coach Joe Clayton, the Bulldogs like to run.

“They do a combination of zone read, I-formation, wing-T,” Clayton said. “They get the ball to Perkins. He is a tough, hard runner and we need to stop him.”

Perkins had 24 carries for 158 yards against Chaparral and against Moapa Valley, he had 22 carries for 214 yards, which is a lot of running against two solid teams.

“Run-wise they are like last year’s Moapa Valley team,” Trojans senior quarterback Dylan Coffman said. “I don’t think they are nearly as good. I think if we do our job, we should win.”

With the I-formation in play, this makes them a power-run team and the Trojans have done well against power-running teams in the past. Although they didn’t beat Mojave, a power-run team, last week, they came close.

Senior defensive back Cory Bergan said the Mojave game is in the past and the team is focused on beating Virgin Valley.

“I think they will be in five-to six-man front and try to blitz us a lot,” he said. “They will try to stretch our offense so to win we need to get outside and get upfield against them. On offense, they have a solid run game. We need to watch for play action and do what we do, which is play hard and stay focused.”

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com