Navigating high school amid the pandemic is a workout as intense as anything a coach can dish out.
Pershing County’s student athletes are currently playing a waiting game, not sure when sports will resume or what they will look like when they do.
However, Pershing County coaches haven’t stopped coaching. Lee Houston and Jesse Canchola hold scrimageless basketball practices in the open gym after school.
Mike Brooks lifts with the kids in the weight room.
Monica Halverson, Brooks and others offer incentives for getting and staying in sports shape.
From all reports, many of the athletes have stepped up to the plate and provided leadership also.
Looking back on past successes can be bittersweet.
But, it highlights the strengths the coaches hope to carry forward. And, there’s nothing like a three-peat.
Pershing County’s football team has had two – one from 2010-2012. Its most recent lasted from 2016 – 2018.
2016
Fun in Fernley
On Saturday, Nov 19, 2016, the home crowd looked around the Fernley High School football field. They wondered if anyone had remained behind in Lovelock.
“I hope the last one to leave town locked the door,” quipped one jokester. It seemed the entire populace had come to watch the Mustangs and Lions tussle for the NIAA Class 2A state championship.
“The game was about both defenses battling hard,” said coach Dave McLean with the final scoreboard lit up at 14-7 in the Mustang’s favor.
The Mustangs jumped out early in the first quarter when Ethan Rhodes hit William McKinney Gattrell for a short touchdown.
The 2-point conversion flopped, bringing Pershing’s lead to 6-0.
Neither team got past the other’s defense again until the fourth quarter when Yerington’s Sam Monohan ran in a 20-yard touchdown, bringing the score to 7-6 for the Lions.
The home crowd got a little worried, so they yelled louder – loud enough for Pershing County’s Tad Milich to hear as he ran the ball into the end zone. The 2-point conversion brought the score to 14-7.
The Lions kept charging, but when McKinney-Gattrell intercepted a fourth down pass it was all over but the mopping up.
“It’s been a long grind for everyone and for it to turn out this way is amazing,” said Coach McLean. “Lane Condie, Ricky Camarena, Anthony Montes, Daylon Vasquez and Ben Plimpton all had tremendous games in the linebacker position. Not to mention that big interception by Willie at the end of the game.”
2017
A big win in Winnemucca
Once again, on Saturday, Nov. 18, Lovelock looked like a ghost town. This year, so did Battle Mountain.
Both towns filled the stands in Winnemucca as the Mustangs and Longhorns fought for 2A football supremacy.
Battle Mountain dominated the play in the first half, jumping out to a 24-7 lead. Pershing County came back late in the first half, scoring on a 43-yard pass play from Derek Sandusky to Owen Bake.
In the third quarter, Jayce Leyva broke free for a 64-yard run to close the gap to 24-21. Lane Condie’s interception energized the Mustangs. Pershing took its first lead when Leyva scored on a two-yard run.
They added a late touchdown on fourth down on pass from Sandusky to Bake from 19 yards out.
The Mustangs scored the final 28 points of the game, including two touchdowns in the last minutes of the fourth quarter.
By coach McLean’s assessment even a loss would not have demoralized the team.
“They were strong enough that if it didn’t come out our way they’d be okay,” he said at the end of his final year as football coach. “There would have been some tears but they would have gotten up to get ready for wrestling and basketball practice.”
2018
Viva Las Vegas
This time the setting was more exotic, but the Mustangs had strong community support even in faraway Las Vegas.
On Sat. Nov. 17, they battled Needles on the Bishop Gorman High School football field.
“There were at least 100 people on the Lovelock side,” said Desiree Hultenschmidt, a football, wrestling and baseball mom. “We had folks from Winnemucca come support us. Mustang fans came from as far away as San Diego.”
They came to watch their heroes win their third consecutive state championship, beating Needles, 30-18.
It was Ricky Reitz’s third start as QB due to a late-season shakeup. Eric Franco’s 36-yard field goal pumped up the team’s spirit, giving them a 3-0 lead out of the gate. Leyva followed up with his thirteenth rushing touchdown of the year, a 20 yard run. Franco kicked the extra point.
Juan Jimenez and a herd of Mustangs sacked and tackled with determination. Needles had only one play of more than 30 yards.
“We just couldn’t get the ball rolling,” said Coach Matt Fromelt. “The Mustangs are a great D. They bottled us up.”
“Needles was a class act and a great opponent,” said first-year varsity head football coach Mike Brooks. “Congratulations to these kids who kept battling and came together.”
In 2019, the championship went back to Yerington.
The Lions beat Lincoln County 32-22 and walked off with their first state titles since 2014 and 2015.
The seniors on the championship team recalled their freshman year, when Yerington won only two games.
In the 3A, Fernley won their first title since 1964, their first in over 50 years. With their coach’s help, the Mustangs will survive and thrive.
