This past Friday, the Pershing County High School football team lost a non-league road game against Portola, Calif., with a final score of 34-20.
It was Pershing County's season opener. The Tigers whipped CASR in Reno the previous week.
"We had a lot of kids do some really good things," Mike Brooks said. "Wyatt Diaz is playing well. We were also impressed by Tyrn Sam's toughness. Travis Donaldson played well at quarterback and Bryce Sherron had a good game on the defensive line."
The California team intercepted a Pershing County pass in the first quarter.
Tanner Carr completed an 87-yard pass to Johnny Stewart for a touchdown.
In the second quarter, Pershing County’s Izayuh McGlothin scored an 8-yard rushing touchdown to tie the score at six.
Going into the fourth quarter, the score stood at 26-6, with the Mustangs trailing by 20 points.
They were determined to shrink the deficit. They succeeded in adding 14 points to the scoreboard while holding the Tigers to eight points.
It took teamwork. Noel Zaldivar rushed for 12 yards. QB Travis Donaldson completed a 7-yard pass to Aaron Kienbaum bringing the score to 34-18, with four minutes left in the game.
Donaldson passed to Kaden Chambers for the 2-point conversion, ending the game at 34-20.
“We were proud of the effort the kids gave. Portola created some big plays and capitalized on some of our mistakes. They brought physicality to the game,” Brooks said.
This Friday, the Mustangs are back on the road for a non-league match-up against the Dayton Dust Devils. Dayton is coming off a 44-0 loss against Yerington and a 63-0 loss against Hug.
No doubt, they will strive to win their first home game of the year. The Mustangs have other ideas.
