On Friday, Pahrump Valley was outclassed by Desert Pines, who showed the Trojans why they are the best football team in Class 3A. The Jaguars offense ran at will for 298 yards total offense on their way to a 56-6 rout.
Desert Pines (4-1 overall, 1-0 Sunset League) scored 42 points in the first half.
Trojans coach Joe Clayton said a key to winning the game was his defense had to be able to stop Jaguar running back Isaiah Morris. Pahrump couldn’t do that. The Jaguar offensive line was just too big and too physical.
Their linemen made big holes for Morris throughout the game. Morris had 11 attempts for 117-yards. All he had to do was follow his offensive tackle Poutasi Poutasi, who is 6-foot, 4-inches and 305 pounds. Poutasi pushed aside Trojans defenders all night long for Morris.
To further rub salt in the wound, the Desert Pines ran a jet sweep, the signature play of the Trojans, late in the first quarter. The Jaguar line got good penetration and simply took the Pahrump line out of the play. Capri Uzan, the Jaguar wide receiver on the play, got past the Trojans defenders untouched and took the ball for a 39-yard TD run.
At one point in the first quarter, two Desert Pines touchdown runs on consecutive plays were called back on holding calls.
The Desert Pines defense also played a big role in their win, keeping the Trojans scoreless until the fourth quarter.
“The Trojans offense was under a lot of pressure all night,” one Pahrump fan said.
The Trojans were out of sync and missing its top rusher, Aaron Fuentes (166 yards, two TDs) and another leading scorer, Case Murphy (four TDs).
But even with those two players out, the score probably wouldn’t have been much different.
The Jaguars limited the Trojans (3-2, 0-1) to 96 yards total offense. Desert Pines completely shut down Pahrump’s running game, allowing just 29 yards. Parker Hart had one completion for five yards and Dylan Coffman had one completion for 63 yards and a TD, which came late in the fourth quarter.
One of Pahrump’s top runners, Nico Velazquez was held to just 23 yards.
The Trojans travel to Cheyenne (2-3, 1-0) on Friday for redemption, their second away game in a row and their second league game.
Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes