Pahrump Valley Trojans finish strong in first year under Middleton

A seven-game losing streak could have sunk Pahrump Valley’s spring. Instead, the Trojans answered with six straight wins, finished 14-13 overall and locked into third place in the Class 3A Southern Mountain League under first-year head coach Drew Middleton.

That late surge mattered because it came against one of the league’s most demanding slates. Pahrump Valley spent the season trading blows with Boulder City, The Meadows, Virgin Valley and Moapa Valley, and still managed to land in the playoffs as the No. 3 seed. The Trojans opened postseason play against No. 2 seed The Meadows at 3:30 p.m. on May 7 at Boulder City High School.

Middleton’s first season carried added weight because he came home to lead the program he once played for. A Pahrump Valley High School graduate from the class of 2014, he wore the Trojans’ uniform from 2010 to 2014 before returning to the school as head coach. “I played here from 2010 to 2014 and graduated in 2014,” Middleton said. That connection gave the season a sense of reset, but the numbers show it was more than nostalgia. It was a year in which the program fought through adversity, stabilized, and finished with momentum.

The final record also showed how steep the climb was. Pahrump Valley’s 14-13 mark was a drop from last season’s 23-11-1 finish, when the Trojans went 7-3 in league play and also placed third in 3A South - Mountain. Even so, the 2026 team’s ability to recover from a midseason slide and close on a six-game winning streak suggested a roster that learned to handle pressure and kept improving as the schedule tightened.

For Pahrump, the bigger takeaway may be what comes next. A third-place league finish, a postseason berth and a six-game finish give Middleton a base to build on in year two, and the Trojans now head into the offseason with a clear standard: survive the grind of the Southern Mountain League, then finish strong when it matters most.