Jeremy Minick hauls in a one-handed catch on a pass over Spring Mountain’s Valmir Bojku. Alamo won the game 54-22. (Dave Maxwell photo)
Junior Wade Leavitt had a career high 238 yards rushing and a touchdown on 16 carries, and Tabor Maxwell tied the all-time state record longest TD pass in Pahranagat Valley’s 54-22 league win over Spring Mountain.
It was the team’s 62nd victory, longest active winning streak in the nation, and even merited a short piece on the late night sports news at Channel 8 KLAS-TV in Las Vegas.
PVHS is now listed at No. 21 on the Maxpreps.com Freeman national 6/8/9 man football rankings.
Maxwell completed 11 of 16 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns, including a 99-yarder to Jordan Cryts. Shawn Wadsworth had three catches for 138 yards and two scores for the Panthers, who led 34-16 at the half.
The record setting pass, early in the second quarter, eclipsed the school record 86-yard Cody Hosier and Kale Leavitt score in 2010, and tied the all-time state record by Wallace Dean to Garic Wharton of Valley High in 2009.
Maxwell and Leavitt are now both the leaders in all of Southern Nevada football in their respective categories.
Leavitt leads in two categories, pass receptions (490 yards on 23 catches, and six touchdowns), and in scoring with 74 points on 11 touchdowns and four 2-point conversions. He is fifth in rushing with 550 yards on 63 carries and five touchdowns.
He had an outstanding game on defense as well, credited with 12 solo tackles, an assist on another, and two quarterback sacks. The Panthers sacked Eagle quarterback Valmir Bojku 10 times.
Maxwell continues as the passing leader with 1,323 yards on 67 for 104 (64.4 percent), 20 touchdowns and four interceptions.
In other Southern Nevada categories, Cryts is tied for the lead with three interceptions and Jake Carter is third with 4½ sacks.
Spring Mountain got on the board first with a 98-yard interception return by Valmir Bojku just as the Panthers were about to score themselves early in the game. The NIAA doesn’t have a category for longest interception return for a touchdown, but Spring Mountain would likely have to be right near the top now.
The game plan the Eagles had devised, said coach Aaron Masden, was “to shut Alamo down from making big plays, but we struggled with that and gave up too many big plays (the four touchdown passes and about five other long non-scoring passes and runs).”
Meanwhile, Pahranagat coach Ken Higbee said his team stepped up and played very well on the defensive side. “We have confidence in our kids. It doesn’t make any difference of what we expect, freshman through senior. It doesn’t diminish just because of their grade level.”
Alamo’s defense completely took away the Spring Mountain ground game, holding the Eagles to 298 total yards (81 rushing, 217 passing), and put a lot of pressure on quarterback Joshua Banasiak, as he was only 17 for 40, with three interceptions.
At the same time, the Panthers (5-0, 2-0) were piling up a new team record 658 yards in total offense, breaking the previous one of 571 set against Round Mountain in 2012.
Undaunted by the Eagles scoring first, PVHS came right back in about 90-seconds with a 70-yard TD pass to Shawn Wadsworth.
After stopping an Eagles drive with a goal line stand at the six-yard line just at the start of the second quarter, Maxwell was sacked for a five-yard loss back to the 1.
Then, looking to pass from the shadow of his own end zone on 3rd and 15, hit Cryts in stride near the far sideline for the record setting TD pass with 9:33 remaining in the first half. It is the longest pass touchdown pass thrown in the Southern Division IV this season.
“It was really long. I thought he might be tackled,” Maxwell said. “Our offensive line again did a really good job blocking, we ran the ball well, and executed right. We ran some plays to get the corners out of the middle which then left the middle wide open”
Leavitt said the running game was working really well. “We ran really hard and the blocking was amazing.”
Crytz, a junior, had seven carries for 89 yards, and complimented Maxwell on the touchdown pass for being an, “outstanding freshman quarterback. His passes are perfectly in my hands all the time. I like the way he throws.”
This is Homecoming week, as PVHS hosts Indian Springs in football and volleyball. Indian Springs (3-2) took a 41-28 win over Sandy Valley last week.
Mason Hamlin for the Thunderbirds is a rare animal in the Southern Division IV: a field goal kicker. He had a 33-yarder in the first game of the season, a 22-14 win at Tonopah.
