By LOU MARTIN
The Progress
The clock had struck 11 pm Friday Sept. 2, before the Virgin Valley High School Football team had closed out Pahrump Valley, 14-6, on an interception by defensive back Jared Jensen. The game began after an hour and a half delay due to the Trojans’ bus being held up in traffic.
The Trojans were up first with possession on their own 34 yard line. The Bulldog defense set up the theme of the game with stops on three Trojan running plays forcing a punt.
The Bulldogs first offensive series began with a three and out which set up a 54 yard punt by Bulldog Martin Jordan to the Trojans one yard line. The punt set up a safety tackle by Stratton Waite giving the Dawgs a 2-0 advantage with 7 minutes remaining in the first period.
The safety forced a Trojan kick to the Dawgs 36 yard line. The Trojans intercepted the Dawgs quarterback Gunner Cortez on their 15 yard line but were called for interference giving the Dawgs a first down. The penalty was the first of 23 called on both teams by the flag-throwing referees.
The Bulldogs struck quickly on a pass from Cortez to Chase Ottison but the dreaded yellow flag nullified the T.D.
The Bulldogs fumbled on their next play giving the ball back to the Trojans on their own 35 yard line.
The Trojans drove the field, aided by 4 straight Bulldog penalties, resulting in a 9 yard T.D. run by Brennen Benedict. The point after was blocked giving the Trojans the lead at 6-2 with seconds remaining in the first period.
The Bulldogs began their next drive on their own 20 yard marker and rode the back of Jordan most of the way to the Trojans 15 yard line. The Bulldog offense pushed to the four yard line. Then three straight yellow flags pushed the Dawgs to a fourth and 20 giving the Trojans a first down on an incomplete end zone pass on their own 21 yard line.
The Bulldog defense held, forcing a short punt to the Trojans 33 yard line with 1:34 on the first half clock. Two complete passes set up a five yard T.D. pass from Cortez to Waite for the go ahead T.D. with approximately 30 seconds remaining in the first half. The Dawgs were on top 8-6 at the end of the half.
The second half began exactly as the first ended with penalties controlling the flow of the game. Neither squad could take control until the Bulldogs stopped the Trojans on their 37 yard line with a little over 5 minutes remaining in the game.
The Bulldogs took advantage of two Trojan penalties setting up a first down on the Trojans 20 yard marker. Cortez immediately burned his former team hitting a streaking Isaiah Frieling over the middle for six points. The point after hit the pylon keeping the score at 14-6 with 3:46 left on the game clock.
The Trojans would not go away and die as they took advantage of more Bulldog penalties to get down to the Bulldogs 15 yard with1:03 remaining on the game clock. This set up Jensen’s heroics for the win.
The Bulldogs were led by Martin Jordan who had 9 receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown plus making some big plays from his linebacker position. He also tallied up 102 yards on punts for a big 51 yard average.
“Pahrump was a big physical team,” said VVHS head coach Matt Woods after the game. “It was good to get the win, but we have a lot of improving to do if we want to get anywhere near our goals. We were undisciplined in the win which was disappointing.”
The win brought the Dawgs to 3-0 for the season. Their next game will be on September 16 against a good Boulder City team.
