RICHARD STEPHENS / PVT Giovanni Dare, 45, runs against Spring Mountain, in Beatty’s 24-12 loss Thursday. RICHARD STEPHENS / PVT Tyler Bessire, 81, breaks away for Tonopah, which will play at home at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in a Class A playoff game against Las Vegas Mountain View Christian. Advertisement

TONOPAH -- the Central Class A Division football champion for the fourth consecutive season -- will be in the Nevada playoffs, but the season has ended for Nye County's other team, Pahrump Valley, Beatty and Round Mountain.

The Muckers, 8-1, will be at home against the only team they lost to this season -- Las Vegas Mountain View Christian -- at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in a first-round game.

Tonopah, 4-0 in Central games, assured itself of a No. 1 seed in the round of eight by overrunning homestanding Indian Springs 38-15 last Thursday.

The losing Thunderbirds, 6-3, 3-1 Central, qualified for the playoffs as well; they will go to Pahranagat Valley Alamo, 8-1, which is seeking its third consecutive state eight-man football championship. Alamo defeated Tonopah 56-14 in the state finals in 2006.

Meanwhile

Pahrump Valley suffered its first winless season in nine years, falling to 0-8-1 with a 51-7 loss to homestanding Boulder City in a Southern 3-A League game Thursday.

Beatty lost 24-12 to Spring Mountain and was denied a .500-plus season, with the Hornets falling to 4-5.

Coach Jim Swigart's Round Mountain team, ravaged by injuries all season, finished 0-9 with a 14-8 loss to Big Pine, Calif., last Wednesday.

Tonopah, now 18-0 in Central Division games under the direction of coach Curt McElroy, will pit its shotgun-option offense and 3-3-2 defense against the Saints, who defeated the Muckers 16-0 on the second weekend of the regular season.

That game was played in 100-degree temperatures on a Saturday afternoon; it will be significantly cooler at Tonopah Saturday.

"I can't say for sure that the heat affected us, but we missed every opening we had in the game, for whatever reason," said McElroy, 31-11 in four seasons at Tonopah, which was in Class 2-A for several years before the 2004 realignment of Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association member schools.

Against the Thunderbirds, wideout Tyler Bessire caught two touchdown passes from junior quarterback Scott Thibodeaux, who completed five passes for 36 yards and two TDs, as well as rushing for 109 yards and two scores on 18 attempts.

The Muckers, despite the best efforts of T-bird linebacker Derek Oliver (18 tackles, nine solo), rolled up 355 yards total offense, while limiting Indian Springs to 166 yards.

Steven Carnell gained 106 yards and scored a TD on 13 attempts. Kevin Valentine rushed 13 times for 74 yards, and backup tailback Mike Dolfin scored a touchdown and gained 30 yards on five rushes.

Defensively, Mike Dolfin had 15 tackles, including eight solo stops and a sack. Jose Arias had 11 tackles, with a sack.

:Our defense was strong once again,": said McElroy, whose team allowed only eight touchdowns in nine games. "I am proud of the way these boys have played all year, and it put us one step closer of making it back to state."

Pahrump Valley, meanwhile, surrendered four long touchdown runs to Jake Slater in the first half in its loss at Boulder City, which got the No. 4 seed for the Southern 3-A playoffs with the victory.

The Trojans were 0-4-1 with Roy Goodell as interim coach, Goodell, a former Ely White Pine coach, replaced the deposed Brian Hug after the Trojans' 55-0 loss to Spring Creek in late September.

The Trojans played a 34-34 tie against Yucca Valley, Calif. in Goodell's first game, then lost four straight in the league. Pahrump Valley is now winless in its last 10 starts, dating back to a 20-10 playoff loss to Moapa Valley in 2006.

The Trojans, who were outscored 201-14 in league games and 407-74 in nine starts overall, got on the board against the Eagles with less than three minutes to go. Wideout Kyle Abreu scored from 17 yards out on an end-around and Frank Lopez added the point-after kick.

Slater, a senior halfback, rushed for 254 yards on 14 attempts to pace the Eagles.

Beatty fell to 1-3 in the Central Division, but played a strong defensive game against free-wheeling Spring Mountain. Coach Gus Sullivan's team had had its playoff hopes dashed a week earlier in a loss to Tonopah.

The Round Mountain-Big Pine game was played on Wednesday, a rarity for high school football teams in Nevada.