Trojans football celebrates historic season with player awards and 3A honors
On Tuesday night, multiple members of the Pahrump Valley High School football program received awards and recognition for their dedication this year.
Arguably one of the best seasons the Trojans have rolled out in recent years, they were shy of a state title bid by just one score against the state runners-up, while breaking multiple schools’ records.
On October 30 against The Meadows, the Trojans broke their previous single-season sack record and recorded the most points scored in a single game (70).
“I’m proud of this team. We had a great year, statistically the greatest season in school history,” Trojans head coach Thom Walker said. “Even though we only had seven seniors, they were amazing young men and great leaders. We came close to our goal of going to state.”
Team awards
■ Preston Dockter — Utility Player of the Year
■ Julio Ackerman — Most Improved Player of the Year
■ Joshua Slusher — Coaches Award
■ Ryan Hamlin — Wide Receiver
■ Austin Alvarez — Running Back
■ Kayne Horibe — Offensive Player of the Year
■ Iyan Bosket — Linebacker
■ Booey McLard — Defensive Back
■ Iyan Bosket — Defensive Player of the Year
■ Jack Walker — Offensive Lineman of the Year
■ Paul Walker — Defensive Lineman of the Year
■ Billy Sparks — Lineman of the Year
■ Kayne Horibe/Austin Alvarez — Most Valuable Player
All 3A Southern Nevada
1st Team Offense
■ Austin Alvarez — Running Back
■ Josh Slusher — Running Back ■ Jack Walker — Offensive Line ■ Billy Sparks — Defensive Line
2nd Team Offense
■ Ryan Hamlin — Wide Receiver ■ Julio Ackerman — Offensive Line ■ Joshua Slusher — Kicker
1st Team Defense
■ Iyan Bosket — Linebacker ■ Jack Walker — Defensive Line ■ Billy Sparks — Defensive Line ■ Lucas Gavenda — Return Specialist
2nd Team Defense
■ Alejandro Rayas — Linebacker ■ Paul Walker — Defensive Line ■ Kayne Horibe — Punter ■ Gideon Wydick — Defensive Line
Offensive recap
Senior quarterback Kayne Horibe, who is considering two offers to play college football next year, led the Trojans with 84 completions on 157 attempts for 1,681 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
On the ground Horibe finished with a team-high 672 yards on 99 carries for 15 touchdowns.
Not far behind, senior workhorse Austin Alvarez punched 640 yards on 84 carries for six touchdowns while senior Joshua Slusher finished with 376 yards on 60 carries and four touchdowns.
Preston Dockter was a big surprise returning to the run game he once knew earlier in his career. The junior tallied a hard 293 yards on 42 carries through the teeth of the defensive line for five scores on the year.
Leading the pack of receivers, junior Ryan Hamlin was often found reeling in deep balls from Horibe this year, tallying 484 yards on 17 receptions for four touchdowns.
Close behind was team captain Alvarez with 401 yards on 23 receptions and seven scores followed by junior Lucas Gavenda, who recorded 384 yards on 20 receptions, finding the end zone twice.
Junior wideout Angel Ware had a breakout year, reeling in some ESPN level highlight catches in key moments. On the year, Ware recorded 294 yards on 12 catches for three touchdowns.
Defensive recap
The Trojans’ impressive defensive statistics totaled 482 tackles across 11 games, averaging 43.8 tackles per game, with 51 tackles for a loss. The unit showed depth, with over 30 players recording at least one tackle.
Junior Iyan Bosket led the team with a remarkable 69 total tackles, including 43 solo tackles and 11 tackles for loss, averaging 7.7 tackles per game. His presence in the backfield was consistently disruptive and a major factor in the Trojans’ defensive success.
Senior Austin Alvarez followed closely with 45 total tackles (30 solo, two tackles for loss), averaging 4.5 tackles per game, demonstrating leadership over the top and reliability.
Junior Paul Walker also made significant contributions, finishing the season with 34 total tackles and six TFL, consistently making critical stops.
Older brother and senior Jack Walker added 31 tackles with nine TFL, anchoring key defensive plays on the line throughout the season.
Junior Billy Sparks contributed 22 tackles with an impressive 11 TFL, showing a strong knack for getting into the backfield. Other notable contributors include A. Ware (Jr) with 33 tackles, B. Mclard (Sr) with 35 tackles, and L. Gavenda (Jr) with 31 tackles.
Sparks led the team in sacks with nine, followed by Jack Walker and Iyan Bokset (5), Paul Walker (4) and Gideon Wydick (3).
“The team has a great work ethic and I know their future is bright, especially knowing we have 25 returners next year and 23 will be seniors,” Walker said.
Special Teams
The Trojans special teams unit took a hit early in the season when they lost junior kicker Aaron Rily. Prior to his calf injury, Rily had contributed to the scoreboard with 5 PATs (point-after-touchdowns) on six attempts (.8 success rate), totaling 5 points over four games.
Senior Joshua Slusher saved the unit as he was able to successfully convert 25 of 29 PAT attempts (.9 success rate), making all three of his field goal attempts (1.0 FG rate), including a long kick of 31 yards. He contributed a total of 34 points, averaging 4.3 points per game, and served as a reliable scoring option for the team.
The Trojans finished the year with 39 total points from kicks over 11 games, averaging 3.5 points per game. Accuracy was a key strength, particularly in PAT attempts and field goals.
Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.
