Pahrump Valley is making their way through the regional playoffs after they held onto their lead against Mater Academy East Las Vegas in their game last week.
As the Trojans were favored to win their first playoff game against MAELV, Pahrump Valley had a close call in the fourth quarter. The Trojans led by 20 points and the Knights closed that gap down to about a touchdown.
Due to a lucky play between quarterback Kayne Horibe (8) and Randal Murray (10), the Trojans were able to confuse the Knights defense team and sneak through for a touchdown to get their 20-point buffer.
“We didn’t come out and play as well as we could have tonight,” said Trojans Head Coach Thom Walker. “We’ve got a lot left in us and we’re excited for the opportunity.”
The Trojans won their first game with injured players, and what the team will be working on most is getting healthy before their big semifinals game against Sports Leadership and Management, the No. 1 team in the Class 3A Southern Football League.
The big game
Pahrump Valley is going to have set aside their nerves as they attempt to dethrone SLAM from their No. 1 spot and advance to the state playoffs.
The Trojans are traveling to Las Vegas on Friday to play against SLAM at Foothills field at 6 p.m. The Bulls had a bye week to rest before playing against the Pahrump team.
At the start of the season, the two teams played in Pahrump, where Horibe had over 200 passing yards and a 50 percent completion rate. But this was not enough compared to SLAM’s quarterback Alaijah Young, who had over an 80 percent completion rate. Although SLAM had the higher pass completion rate, the Bulls relied on carry plays.
Young, Damien Nevil and Greg Water-Cortez were responsible for driving the ball down the field and they were successful. SLAM scored 50 points, while the Trojans ended up scoring 21 points by the end of the match.
Currently, the Bulls have a trend: the team is scoring the most points in the second quarter and the team drops off near the end of the game.
The Bulls faced off against MAELV for their last game of the regular season but SLAM used a different quarterback. Daylin James, who had 260 yards passing, got the team the win and final score of 33-21.
Young has previously had high passing games, like in their game against Virgin Valley, but the team lost 26-16 in that game.
Up next
After Friday evening’s games, the 3A league will reduce down to just the top four teams; two northern and two southern schools playing for the state championship.
Currently, Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley will be playing in their semifinals game to be one of the southern schools to advance into the state playoffs.
The state championship game will be played at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 26.
Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@pvtimes.com. Follow @JimmyRomo.News on Instagram.