HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Pahrump Valley's Steve Kelley, 21, with an assist from Vandale Wright, 5, makes a stop against Legacy's Raikeem Salaam. Advertisement

A week earlier, Rocky Spencer finished off Pahrump Valley's come-from-behind, 34-30 football victory against Yucca Valley, Calif., by rushing for 95 yards in the second half.

That should have been a major hint for the defensive coaches at Las Vegas Legacy ... or maybe they were concerned with the passing of quarterback Travis Ott, who threw three touchdown passes in the final quarter to power that sensational victory.

Whatever scheme the Longhorns' coaches came up with, it didn't work effectively enough to prevent their team from losing 29-14 at Pahrump Valley Friday night and falling to 1-3 in their inaugural high school football season.

Ott started where he left off against Yucca Valley. The senior quarterback threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Vandale Wright in the first quarter; it was that combination that hooked up on a 67-yard pass for the winning touchdown against the Californians.

Then, Spencer took over, with the senior tailback rushing for 217 yards and three touchdown on 21 attempts, as Pahrump Valley corraled the Longhorns before a loud, partisan crowd at the high school stadium.

Spencer scored on runs of 12, 5 and 66 yards as he boosted his yards gained over the last six quarters to 312 yards on 33 rushes.

The victory gave Pahrump Valley a 2-3 record in its non-Southern Nevada Class 3-A League games. The Trojans launch the Southern Nevada Class 3-A League campaign Friday night at Mesquite Virgin Valley (4-2 in all games, 0-1 in the league after bowing 31-15 to Las Vegas Faith Lutheran Friday).

"It was important for us to win these last two games," said Brian Hug, the first-year coach of the Trojans.

"We went 2-1 against schools that are our own size (after losing to Class 4-A Las Vegas Chaparral and Chino Don Lugo (with a student population of 2,300)," said Hug, whose team lost 47-6 at Northern Nevada Class 3-A power Spring Creek before beating Yucca Valley and Legacy. "Those wins proved to our kids they can win, on the field and mentally. Winning is something they can accomplish."

Against Legacy, the Trojans drove 72 yards on nine plays for its first touchdown, on that Ott-to-Wright pass with 5:56 left in the first period. Kody Daffer kicked the first of his three extra points to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, the Trojans marched 52 yards on six plays, including Spencer's 12-yard TD run at 9:32. Moments later, Spencer had a 32-yard touchdown run nullified by a penalty, but the Trojans would score again before the first half ended. With 1:50 left until intermission, Spencer blasted into the end zone untouched for the touchdown, and Steve Kelley picked up a low snap on the point-after try and ran it in for the two-point conversion.

"I thought we came out in the second half flat," said Hug, explaining the final 24 minutes in which the Longhorns blocked a punt to set up one touchdown and scored a second against PVHS backups with nine seconds left in the game. Spencer's 66-yard touchdown run, however, had given the Trojans a 29-7 lead with 37 seconds to go in the third quarter.

"Any time a team is down like Legacy was, they are going to be looking for something to get them fired up, and that's what the blocked punt did," said Hug. The Longhorns got possession at the PVHS 23 and it took them only five plays to score and reduce the Trojans' advantage to 22-7.

The Trojans got big defensive plays throughout the game, including an interception by Richard Torres and a fumble recovery by Jeremiah Ward, as well as some key tackles by Joey Colucci, Kelley, Andy Floyd, Zack Weldon, Richard Harrell, and Steven Cummings.