HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT The defense from the Chino, Calif., Don Lugo High School football team surrounds Steve Kelley, in the Conquistadores' 48-3 victory Friday night at the Pahrump Valley High School stadium. The Trojans go to Spring Creek Friday night for a non-league Class 3-A game. Advertisement

The Pahrump Valley football team gets to pick on someone its own size when it travels to Spring Creek Friday.

Actually, the Trojans were playing the role of David to Goliath, portrayed by the Chaparral Cowboys and Don Lugo Conquistadores, in their first two starts.

Unfortunately, Pahrump Valley, from Southern Nevada's Class 3-A League, was unsuccessful in its role of the underdog, as the Trojans were overpowered 40-0 at Class 4-A Las Vegas Chaparral and 48-3 at home by Chino, Calif.-based Don Lugo, a school with 2,300 students.

Spring Creek isn't Goliath-like, but coach Joel Jund's Spartans are undefeated, even without the formidable presence of running back James Edwards, who is now playing football at NCAA Division II Chadron State in Nebraska. Spring Creek defeated neighborhood rival Elko 17-14, then traveled to Las Vegas to knock off Southern 3-A power Faith Lutheran 20-13 before enjoying an open date last weekend.

"What Chaparral and Don Lugo had was the opportunity to draw from 1,000 more students than we have to get their athletes," said Brian Hug, the Pahrump Valley coach. "And both of those teams were more athletic tdhan we were. Don Lugo also had exceptional speed at every position."

Playing Spring Creek will be no less of a challenge, said Hug. "But they are more at our level than the first two teams we played. We're looking forward to playing the Spartans.

"Against Don Lugo, I thought the boys played hard the whole game ... they never backed down," said Hug. "We did some good things, but their speed was the difference."

Andre Pickens, a 160-pound junior halfback, rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on just eight attempts.

Quarterback Charlie Hinojosa completed 7 of 11 passes for 200 yards and four touchdowns. Russell Carr, a 6-foot-3 wideout, caught a 42-yard scoring pass from Hinojosa and a 26-yard toss from backup quarterback Dave Meraz. On that play, Carr simply reached over 5-foot-5 Darius Dolly to make the catch in the end zone.

Pahrump Valley got its lone score in the second quarter, when Kody Daffer booted a 26-yard field goal with 2:01 left in the half. Don Lugo didn't take long to retaliate, however, as Pickens did an 80-yard Reggie Bush-style sprint for a touchdown that gave the Conquistadores a 34-3 lead at the break.

"Pahrump Valley didn't give up; they played hard to the end. I can't say the same thing about our kids," said Greg Setlich, the Don Lugo coach. "This was a good game for us because of the atmosphere here ... it was great. I can't say enough about how well the Pahrump kids responded; they never quit.

"We came here coming off a tough scrimmage against (California power) Downey," said Setlich. "We were looking from some improvement. We finished second (to Ontario Chaffey) last season, after we tied for the title in 2003 and 2004 in the Mt. Baldy League. We wanted to come in here and play disciplined football."

The Conquistadores had 375 yards on just 34 offensive plays, while their defense limited the Trojans to 123 yards on 47 plays.

Sophomore tailback Andy Floyd rushed for 59 yards on seven attempts, all in the second half. Senior quarterback Travis Ott, 0-for-3 passing, gained 42 yards on 17 rushes.

"We just need to get stronger," said Hug. "We still have some kids coming out for the team ... they will practice, get in their 10 workouts, and hopefully, some of them will be able to help us down the road."

The Trojans play at home against Yucca Valley, Calif., next week and against new Las Vegas high school Legacy the following week, before launching 3-A League play against Mesquite Virgin Valley Oct. 6.

The Pahrump Valley junior varsity lost 35-12 to the varsity team from Class 2-A Las Vegas The Meadows, in its first game of the season.

NOTES -- Pahrump Valley will travel by two chartered buses to Spring Creek ... The newly-organized PVHS Quarterback Club will start selling Varsity Gold Cards Sept. 18 for $15 each ... The card will offer discounts or free products at various Pahrump retail outlets ... Go to the Web site, www.varsitygold.com for details ... "I would like to see each of our football players sell 20 cards each," said Hug ... "We will have a two-week presale, then on Sept. 30, we will go into the community," said Hug ... If all 110 players sell 20 tickets each at $15, that will generate funds that will help pay for football equipment and uniforms, said Hug.