The Pahrump Valley High School football team is making their long-awaited season debut on Friday, Sept. 10, at home, against Virgin Valley High School.
The Trojans’ season was impacted by the coronavirus. They were supposed to kick off their season on Aug. 20, however, the first two games of the season were canceled, as many of the games were across Southern Nevada in the early part of the season. At least one of those games was canceled due to rising cases at PVHS, not among players.
Virgin Valley has been a longtime rival of PVHS and the Trojans are hoping to get back on the winning side. It’s been nearly 30 years since Pahrump Valley has been able to defeat Virgin Valley.
Unfortunately, the Trojans will be without their head football coach, Joe Clayton, because he tested positive for COVID-19. Clayton will miss the team’s first two games of the season. The team will be led this year by the Trojans’ new starting quarterback Raymundo “Gunner” Cortez, a sophomore, and their starting running back in Henry Amaya, a senior.
Cortez is a new addition to the team this season. He was just a freshman during last year’s shortened season that took place in the spring. This will be Amaya’s third season with the varsity team. He had six rushing attempts for 51 yards during the 2019-20 season, which was his first year with the varsity team.
Amaya, along with senior Dylan Severt, are the two veterans for the Trojans defense. Severt will be one of a few players that will be seen on both sides of the ball. He will also be playing on the offensive line blocking for Amaya and Cortez.
Beating Virgin Valley won’t be an easy task for PVHS. The Bulldogs have won their first two games of the season by a combined score of 93-0. They beat Del Sol High School 46-0 to open the season, then followed that up with a 47-0 win against Eldorado High School.
Quarterback Gavin Brown is leading the way for the Bulldogs. He has completed over 78 percent of his pass attempts for 381 yards and six touchdowns. Ethan Workman is carrying the load for the ground game. He has 13 rush attempts for 163 yards and three touchdowns so far this season. Workman is also leading the Bulldogs’ defense with 11 total tackles with a sack included.
Jimmy Kelly seems to be the Bulldogs’ go-to receiver. He currently leads the team with six catches and is second on the team with 92 receiving yards. He is also tied for the team lead with two touchdown catches.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 7:00 p.m.
Contact Sports Editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com