DON McDERMOTT / PVT Brian Hug, center, supervises the first workout by the Pahrump Valley High School football team he coaches. The Trojans start two-a-day drills Monday, as they prepare first, for an intrasquad scrimmage Aug. 19, and then the season opener Sept. 1 at Las Vegas Chaparral. Veteran lineman Mike Colucci, with the knee brace, helped lead the Trojans’Äô drills. Advertisement

At 8 a.m. sharp ... in fact, maybe a few minutes early ... Brian Hug walked up into the Pahrump Valley High School football stadium bleachers, where about 60 boys were waiting to meet their new head coach.

The message was basic. Act right, dress right, get into condition, stay eligible and have a physical examination completed. Otherwise, there will be issues.

The Trojans are coming off a good-news, bad-news season. They were 3-6 in all games, including a 26-7 loss to Mesquite Virgin Valley in the Southern Nevada Class 3-A League playoffs ... which is bad.

The good news: Pahrump Valley won the league regular-season championship for the first time since 1993, beating Virgin Valley, Boulder City and Las Vegas Faith Lutheran, while bowing to Overton Moapa Valley.

Contact drills cannot begin until Monday. Today and Saturday, the Trojans will fulfill the requirements established by Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and National Federation rules: conditioning only, without equipment, for the first three days.

For boys who have been involved all summer in off-season training regimens, the first three days are mere exercise. For the boys who have vegetated since school days ended in June, even the rather passive drills they are to undergo those first three workouts will be difficult at best.

Boys will cut themselves off the team for various personal reasons. "I won't cut anybody," said Hug. The coach, meanwhile, is continuing to work at the profession he has been involved in for several years -- including this summer.

He directed the Port Huron, Mich., Pirates to the Great Lakes Indoor Football League regular-season and playoff championships, going undefeated in 12 games to accomplish those feats. And his season ended last weekend with another victory; the West team he coached overpowered the East 49-17 in the GLIFL All-Star Game at Bethlehem, Pa.

The Rochester Raiders tried all year to beat Port Huron (as did everyone else), and it never happened.

Saturday, when they got together with the best from Lehigh Valley and NY/NJ for the Great Lakes Indoor Football League All-Star game in Bethlehem, Pa., they figured to have a real chance to give Pirates players their first loss this season.

The problem is, the Pirates had Marion and Battle Creek players with them, and the result was more of the same.

Only worse. Port Huron quarterback Shane Franzer guided the Pirates to 12-0 record, as well as the GLIFL regular-season and playoff championships. In the All-Star game, Franzier was 6-for-11 passing for 103 yards and three touchdowns, in the West's 49-17 victory.

Franzer added 45 rushing yards and two more touchdowns in being named the All-Star Game's most valuable player.

When the game was no longer in doubt, he added a late fourth-quarter interception, while playing as a defensive back.

The Eastern Conference took a 14-7 lead in the first quarter on Matt Cottengim's second touchdown pass, to Maurice Jackson. No one at Stabler Arena knew that the East would score exactly three more points after that in what was then an offensive game. Cottengim's two touchdowns were part of the league's regular-season most valuable player's 9-for-21 performance with two interceptions.

As has been standard with Port Huron players and their coach, Brian Hug, the most telling part of the game was the rushing statistic. The West ran for 110 yards on 27 carries, while holding the East to negative-17 yards on eight carries. Cottengim led the East All-Stars with negative-1 yard on two carries.

NOTES -- Despite the runaway victory by the West, fans at Stabler Arena (home of Lehigh Valley) enjoyed themselves, which gave a fitting end to a very successful first season for the Great Lakes Indoor Football League ... Co-founder Jeff Spitaleri echoed that sentiment. "It wasn't easy, but we got through it. We were told we wouldn't last through last (2005) summer, then that we wouldn't kick off, then that we wouldn't finish our season. We aren't being told those things anymore, and it's because of the fans of this league embracing their teams. Without the support from our fans, we wouldn't have made it." ... "Now, all we have to do is make our second season better than our first." ... The Great Lakes Indoor Football League is now in preparations for its second season. In addition to the five teams that played home games, the traveling NY/NJ Revolution have a home at Mennen Arena in Morristown, N.J. ...The league also has brought in five expansion teams, bringing it to a total of 11 teams for 2007. Expansion will be finalized for the league's second season in the coming weeks. For more information about the GLIFL, visit the league website at www.glifl.com

The Great Lakes Indoor Football League contributed to this story.