A four-game losing streak and an unexpected change in head coaches didn't shut down the excitement the Pahrump Valley High School football team experienced Friday night, on another trip to California.

The Trojans, trailing 13-0 at halftime and 34-18 with eight minutes to go in the game, rallied to tie Yucca Valley -- the third California opponent in five games this season -- 34-34 in a non-league game.

"The boys put on a great effort against a good Yucca Valley team," said Roy Goodell, the former Ely White Pine coach and Trojans assistant thrown into a near impossible position when PVHS athletics director and football coach Brian Hug was placed on administrative leave at midweek. "Yucca Valley had 60 players in uniform and they were ready to play, despite their record." Yucca Valley was 0-2 and had been outscored 82-7.

The tie was the result of the second straight comeback the Trojans have pulled off in this new series with Yucca Valley. In 2006, PVHS rallied from a 30-6 deficit to beat the Californians 34-30.

Incidentally, in the 35-year history of Pahrump Valley football, the tie was just the second; the other came in the 1985 opener, when the Trojans and Las Vegas Faith Lutheran battled to an 8-8 tie. That team was coached by Larry Goins, now the athletics director at Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas.

The first tie came in PVHS's 84th all-time game. The deadlock Friday occurred in the 302nd start. The Trojans are 100-200-2 in all games since starting football in 1973.

"The biggest touchdown came in the third quarter, when we were down 13-0," said Goodell, who was the head coach at Class 2-A for three years before he accepted a job teaching special education at the Ninth Grade Academy in Pahrump.

The Trojans recovered a fumble deep in Yucca Valley territory and got a touchdown from Don Gott to bring PVHS to within 13-7.

Gott got another key touchdown in the second half, when he took a pass away from a defensive back on a fourth-down play and turned it into six points.

Gott finished with three receptions for 75 yards, as sophomore quarterback Nick Murphy went 6-for-13 for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Wideout Zack Weldon caught the other, as he finished with three catches for 56 yards.

Murphy gained 50 yards on 14 rushes, including two TD runs. Junior tailback Ande Floyd rushed for 151 yards in 28 attempts as the Trojans rolled up 244 yards on the ground. Gueran Fenicle had 41 yards on seven rushes.

Backup quarterback Chase Marquardt was 2-for-5 for 20 yards.

Defensively, Ande Floyd had eight tackles, as did Zack Weldon. Kyle Abreu had an interception and Gott had two fumble recoveries, including the one for a touchdown.

The 34-point explosion was the biggest of the season for Pahrump Valley, which had been outscored 168-26 in its first four games, including a 24-20 setback inflicted by Phoenix, Ariz., Christian in the season opener.

Goodell said he will be the interim coach until the decision in the Hug case is rendered. That is expected to happen sometime this week.

Pahrump Valley is idle this week, returning to action Oct. 5 against defending Nevada Class 3-A champion Mesquite Virgin Valley in the inaugural PVHS Hall of Fame. Sixteen individuals will be inducted as charter members of the Hall; they were selected by a committee through a process that began earlier this year. More on the Hall of Fame inductees will be published in the Friday edition of the Times.

Pahrump Valley's football team will be at home Oct. 12 to play Faith Lutheran, then close the regular season with road games Oct. 19 (at Overton Moapa Valley) and Oct. 25 (at Boulder City).