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Preps: Aspen football handles Moffat on homecoming; AHS tennis heads to state tournament

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Austin Colbert

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Aspen High School senior running back Dylan Mika, right, carries the ball in the homecoming football game against Moffat County on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, on the AHS turf.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

First-year Aspen High School football coach Bryce Sandoval wanted to see his players start fast last week in their homecoming game against Moffat County. And start fast they did, jumping out to an early 21-0 lead en route to an easy 47-14 win on the AHS turf. It was also Sandoval’s first home win with the Skiers.

“We actually started fast. That’s been our problem the last three weeks. The last three games we haven’t started fast. We move fast, so once we can start fast, good things happen,” Sandoval said after the game, played mostly in the rain. “Showing some grit, and that’s what we want.”

The win snapped a three-game skid for the Skiers. After winning at still-winless Grand Valley in the season opener, 40-0, AHS lost in succession to Steamboat Springs (49-7), Summit (19-12), and Kent Denver (49-19). But the win over Moffat, which also happened to be the league opener for Aspen, put the Skiers back in playoff contention with only a few weeks remaining in the regular season.

“It’s big. I’m glad we could do it on homecoming,” senior center and defensive end Burton Pendarvis said after the game. Like his coach, he agreed the fast start was beneficial against the Bulldogs. “That was huge. Our defense put up a great stop the first play, got the ball, and made it very easy for our offense to score right away, which was awesome. That helped our momentum right from the start.”

According to the stats posted to MaxPreps by the team, senior running back Dylan Mika had another monster performance against Moffat, rushing for 251 yards and four touchdowns on only 14 carries (17.9 average). This was a season high, which is saying something considering his worst game through five outings is the 121-yard night against Steamboat on Sept. 12. He has 897 yards (about 180 per game) and seven rushing touchdowns so far this fall.


Sandoval was quick to credit the offensive line for Mika’s success, but Pendarvis wanted to make it clear they only handled half of the equation.

“He’s definitely great,” Pendarvis said of Mika. “We do the dirty work down in the middle, but you see him in the open field, he’s breaking all those tackles by himself. There is only so much we can do in the middle — 15 yards down the field, that’s all him.”

Sophomore quarterback Mickey Marolt also had what was arguably his best outing as a Skier, going 12 of 16 passing for 171 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Bulldogs. Junior Malcolm Berg had seven catches for 107 yards and a TD, while senior Houston Benvenuto, fresh off the golf season, had the other TD catch.

Now 2-3 overall and 1-0 in West league play, the Skiers next play Friday at Delta (4-2, 0-1). Kickoff is 7 p.m. The Panthers are coming off a bye week; they last played Oct. 3, a 14-0 loss at Basalt.

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“They work hard. They keep showing up,” Sandoval said of his players. “We are going to keep working hard and keep showing up and focus on Delta next week. That’s all we can do.”

The Longhorns are 4-3 overall and 2-0 in league play following last week’s 37-25 win at Coal Ridge. Basalt plays this Friday at Moffat County (1-6, 0-2) before a late bye week. BHS will close out the regular season on Oct. 31 at Aspen.

As of Wednesday evening, the CHSAANow.com seeding index, which largely determines who makes the postseason, has Basalt at No. 21 in 2A, with Aspen at No. 27. The West league champion automatically makes the playoff field.

AHS tennis heads to state

The first round of the Class 4A boys state tennis tournament gets underway Thursday, with finals scheduled for Saturday at Pueblo City Park.

After battling to a second-place team finish last week at regionals in Grand Junction, Aspen saw six players — three doubles teams — qualify for state. This includes Chase Slesinger-Hall and Wyatt Weihs at No. 2 doubles; Luke Abbaszadeh and Charlie Morris at No. 3 doubles; and Gavin Smith and Soren Tudge at No. 4 doubles.

Basalt did not have any players qualify for state. Both Aspen and BHS had others make it as alternates (meaning they finished third at regionals), but they are not scheduled to play this week.

Volleyball at home Thursday

Aspen volleyball is holding strong at 14-4 overall and 4-1 in league play following Tuesday’s 3-2 win at Vail Christian. AHS had lost 3-1 at Gunnison on Oct. 9. Next up, the Skiers host North Fork on Thursday; game time is 6:30 p.m. inside the AHS gymnasium.

Basalt is 5-6 (4-3 league) entering Thursday’s 6 p.m. home game with league-leading Gunnison (11-5, 7-0). The Longhorns played Tuesday at Roaring Fork, winning 3-0.

The Rams are 6-12 (3-4) with a 6 p.m. home game with Olathe coming up on Thursday.

As of Wednesday evening, Aspen was No. 8 in 3A in the CHSAA seeding index, while Basalt was No. 37 and Roaring Fork No. 46.

Aspen, BHS soccer play to draw

Aspen and Basalt boys soccer met Tuesday on the BHS field, the teams playing to a 2-2 draw. In their first meeting on Sept. 18, BHS had won, 2-0, in Aspen.

Basalt is 4-6-2 overall and 2-2-1 in league play heading into Thursday’s 4 p.m. home league game with Steamboat Springs (7-3-1, 4-1).

Aspen is 2-4-5 overall and 0-3-2 in league play heading into Thursday’s league game at Vail Mountain (1-10, 1-4).

Roaring Fork is 7-3-1 overall and 4-1 in league play heading into Thursday’s significant home league game with Coal Ridge (8-3-1, 4-1). Game time is 6 p.m. in Carbondale.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Roaring Fork was No. 13, Basalt No. 33, and Aspen No. 38 in the Class 3A seeding index. Only 32 teams will make the state tournament.

XC regionals are next week

Cross country teams are winding down the regular season and gearing up for the regional race, which for Aspen and Basalt will be Oct. 24 at Loudy-Simpson Park in Craig. State cross country is Nov. 1 in Colorado Springs.

Softball season ends

The local softball season has come to a close, with neither Aspen nor Basalt making postseason play. The Longhorns finish the fall 5-18 overall (3-9 league), while the Skiers finish 1-15 overall (0-12 league). Cedaredge, seeded No. 11, and Delta, seeded No. 13, are the top league representatives in the playoffs.

Golf season ends

In case you missed it, the local boys golf season ended last week with the Class 3A state golf tournament Oct. 6-7 at Eagle Ranch Golf Club. Aspen finished fourth as a team, while Basalt finished sixth, with Lutheran winning the 3A championship.

Aspen’s Benvenuto had the best local finish, tying for ninth overall with rounds of 75 and 74. For finishing in the top 10, Benvenuto was named first team all-state through CHSAANow.com.

Basalt’s top finisher was junior Hudson Arnold, who tied for 13th with rounds of 73 and 78. Arnold was named second team all-state by CHSAA alongside Aspen junior Oliver Pullis and Basalt sophomore Parker Strelecki.

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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