DON McDERMOTT MORE COLUMNS DON McDERMOTT / PVT Leo Verzilli, in maroon jacket, talks with the Pahrump Valley High School football team he coaches, during a break in the action. The Trojans were 1-9 this season, including a 0-7 run against Class 4-A opponents. Advertisement

Pahrump Valley's first venture into Southern Nevada Class 4-A athletics competition earned a grade of C-Minus.

The girls soccer team played in Class 3-A for a final season; but we give the Lady Trojans a shoutout because their effort this season.

Denied the opportunity to advance into a Class 4-A fall season because of legal manueverings in Las Vegas, the team didn't back off the challenge of playing once again in the always tough Southern 3-A League.

Coach Greg Leseberg's team was third in the league at 5-4-1 and qualified -- for the first time in school history -- for the state tournament by outfighting perennial antagonist Boulder City 1-0 in the regional last week. PV, 7-9-2 in all matches, will play Northern champion Truckee, Calif., 20-2, at 6 p.m. today in the state semifinals at the Mesquite Sports Complex.

Girls Soccer: B+

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Gene Smith's boys soccer team was 4-10-2 in its first Sunset Region Southwest Class 4-A Division season. That record easily could have been 8-6-2, if the Trojans hadn't lost four one-goal decisions.

The Southwest Division includes state 4-A champion Las Vegas Bishop Gorman. The Gaels had their problems with the Trojans, winning 3-1 at home and coming from behind to prevail 4-1 at PVHS.

The Trojans had some solid seniors -- among them Daimon Nelson, Sergio Castro and James Gang -- and at times got exceptional goalkeeping from junior Shane Lindemann.

Despite the disappointing record, Pahrump Valley had to have earned respect from its 4-A rivals.

Boy Soccer: C-

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The Pahrump Valley girls golf team won the last three Nevada Class 3-A state championships, but coach Julie Floyd's team expected to have an uphill battle to do well in 4-A. The Lady Trojans were in a division that included Bishop Gorman, which had won four of the last five state championships.

Still, the PV girls finished second in division matches and accumulated enough points to qualify for the regionals. The Trojans made it to a state tournament for the 18th consecutive year; while they finished last in a very strong field, the PV girls were sure rivals knew they were competitive.

Seniors Ashley Keller and Meghan Morales ended their careers, which means Floyd will have to rebuild in the 2009-2010 season.

Girls Golf: B+

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The Pahrump Valley volleyball team stunned the Class 4-A world in October, when the Lady Trojans stunned 2007 state runnerup Las Vegas Durango 3-1 in a Southwest Division match. And while finishing 12-4 in the division, coach Jill Harris's team was never outclassed. Even Gorman's big and talented Lady Gaels went to four games to beat PVHS on the Trojans' court.

It was a senior-dominated team, with Kristi Daffer, Arlette Scott, Jill Wulfenstein, Karen Daun, Shayna Smith and Vanessa Veloz contributing big points throughout the season.

But the team's future looks bright, with Casey Scheller, Ashley Lindgren, Alyson Kunzi and Taylor Ball returning, The junior varsity team and B-team have players who will help fill the ranks next season; they were a combined 31-1 against division rivals this fall.

Volleyball: A-

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Pahrump Valley's cross country teams were up against opponents that drew their runners from deeper talent pools, so they struggled. For the first time in several years, no PVHS runner qualified for the state championships.

McKenzie Dean was a state 3-A champion in 2006 and 2007, but a foot injury proved to be too much for the senior standout to overcome this fall.

PVHS students want to run; at one point this season, more than 20 boys and girls were on the roster. The key for coach Andy Andersen now is how many will go out for track in the spring and run distance races, then come back in the fall for the cross country campaign.

Being in good physical condition is one thing. Learning to race 3.1 miles is another.

Cross Country: D

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The football program at Pahrump Valley is at the crossroads. Leo Verzilli inherited a Trojans' team that was psychologically, as well as physically ruined in the two years Brian Hug was the head coach. The Trojans were 3-15-1 and are 4-24-1 in the last three campaigns.

Before Trojans football can become competitive, there are two factors to consider. One, in the 36-year history of the sport at PVHS, the Trojans have won only 103 games and lost 210, with two ties. So there is no winning tradition here many other schools who play PVHS can boast.

Two, we must see how well the Trojans do when the Pop Warner and Rosemary Clarke Middle School programs start to create a deep talent pool. Fans were excited about how well the junior varsity played this fall, but we want to see how strong they are and how schooled their skills are when preseason workouts begin in August.

"Once all of the boys who want to play basketball or wrestle this winter, we will start having weightlifting sessions," said Verzilli. "At some point, the boys have to start taking weightlifting seriously. That is the No. 1 thing they have to do -- get stronger.

"Of course, we have a problem here where some the boys don't eat right; they can lift all they want, but unless their diet is correct, they won't have the necessary weight," said Verzilli.

Because of the tremendous rebuilding job Verzilli and his staff have to do, we hesitate to give the program a grade.

But there has to be a starting point. The Trojans did not fail, simply because of their finishing at 1-9. The boys kept working hard and had moments where they punished opponents as they were being defeated on the scoreboard.

Football: D-minus.