Basalt football escapes Battle Mountain in double-overtime thriller, improves to 2-0
The simplicity of an extra point was anything but for both sides, with Thursday’s double-overtime affair between the Basalt High School football team and Battle Mountain coming down to special teams. In the end, the Longhorns escaped with a dramatic 40-34 non-league win on the BHS field to remain unbeaten on the young season.
“Super excited for the kids to get a double-overtime win,” Basalt coach Carl Frerichs said. “It just shows a lot of grit and character. A win is a win. We are going to learn a lot from it. It was definitely a quick week playing on Thursday. But also hats off to Battle Mountain. Battle Mountain was a good team.”
It was a touchdown pass from Basalt junior quarterback Kade Schneider to senior wideout Sam Sherry that sealed the win in the second overtime period for the Longhorns. BHS was lucky to reach that second session after missing an extra point following a short Sherry touchdown run in the first overtime that left the score 34-28.
Battle Mountain quarterback Elijah Morales scored on a short run in the bottom of the first overtime period and the Huskies only needed to make their extra point to win. But the Longhorns’ defense blocked the attempt and Basalt’s Jamie Dolan had a critical interception of Morales in the top half of the second OT that led to the BHS victory.
The defensive stands late only somewhat made up for what was otherwise a challenging game for the Longhorns on that side of the ball.
“Defensively, we definitely have some things we need to work on,” Frerichs said. “They were definitely a strong team. They were big up front.”
It was a shootout early on. Basalt led 7-0 not even three minutes into the game after a 22-yard run by junior Cooper Crawford set up a 1-yard sneak by Schneider. All of 71 seconds later and Battle Mountain was also on the board, a 10-yard TD run by Morales capping off the quick response.
The Longhorns retook the lead at 13-7 when Schneider connected with junior Dylan Madden from 26 yards out for a score, which was followed by a missed extra point. The Huskies gained the lead barely a minute later on a 67-yard connection from Morales to Tanner Roberts, a successful point after try making it 14-13.
Battle Mountain’s lead grew to 21-14 on a short Morales TD run midway through the second quarter, but a 1-yard Sherry TD run on fourth-and-goal with only 21 seconds to play in the half was followed by a successful Schneider to Sherry 2-point conversion for a 21-all deadlock at halftime.
“On the offensive side of the ball, coach (Mitch) Levy and coach (Clayton) Peetz did a great job and the kids all executed. We played really well on the offensive side of the ball,” Frerichs said. “The offensive line really started to mesh. I thought Kade did a great job on his reads, especially early in the game. And then I thought Cooper really ran hard, and Trevin (Beckman) the same thing. Trevin had a lot of carries inside.”
Basalt opened the second half with a quick score — a Crawford 1-yard run — to take a 28-21 lead that held into the fourth quarter. But the Huskies tied it at 28-all on another Morales run with about eight minutes to play in regulation.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Longhorns decided to let senior kicker Carlos Palomares attempt a roughly 50-yard field goal — he’s known to have the leg — but it came up just a few yards short. The Huskies had a chance to win it in regulation with their own field goal, a much shorter attempt with only a couple of seconds remaining, but it sailed wide right and the game went to overtime.
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Battle Mountain’s Marshal Jones, center, reaches out in a tackle attempt on Basalt’s Cooper Crawford during their game on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Battle Mountain quarterback Elijah Morales is swarmed by defenders during their game against Basalt on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Basalt High School quarterback Kade Schneider watches the play against Battle Mountain on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Basalt High School’s Dylan Madden makes a touchdown catch early on against Battle Mountain on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 40-34.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Battle Mountain’s Luke Horton, right, knocks the ball free of Basalt receiver Dylan Madden during their game on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Basalt High School senior Sam Sherry, right, carries the ball against Battle Mountain on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 40-34.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Battle Mountain quarterback Elijah Morales looks to handoff to Thomas Dekanich during their game against Basalt on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Basalt High School’s Cole Dombrowski carries the American Flag onto the field prior to their game with Battle Mountain on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Basalt High School’s Cooper Crawford is stopped short on a run against Battle Mountain on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Basalt High School’s Wilson Maytham, left, can’t keep up with Battle Mountain wideout Tanner Roberts after he makes a catch on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Battle Mountain quarterback Elijah Morales makes a pass against Basalt on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Basalt High School quarterback Kade Schneider, right, is pressured by Battle Mountain on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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Battle Mountain’s Tanner Roberts runs free after making a catch against Basalt on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Despite the loss, it was a vastly improved Battle Mountain squad against Basalt compared to the one that lost 35-6 to Evergreen in the season opener last week. Still, the Class 3A Huskies fell to 0-2 overall with a home game against 3A No. 5 Lutheran coming next Friday in Edwards. BMHS then hosts Aspen on Sept. 17.
Basalt, now 2-0 after last week’s season-opening win over Woodland Park (35-6), will hit the road for the first time next Friday with a Sept. 10 game at Faith Christian in Arvada. The Eagles were effectively No. 11 in Class 2A this week, slightly ahead of Aspen, while Basalt entered the week No. 6 in the classification.
Faith Christian is off this week after opening the season with a 42-0 win over Prospect Ridge Academy last Friday.
“It will be a lot of fun for the kids to go down to Denver and play one of the best programs in 2A football,” Frerichs said.
Aspen is also off this week after a 42-21 comeback win over Colorado Springs Christian in its opener a week ago. The Skiers will play at Summit next Friday before trips to Battle Mountain and Steamboat Springs close out their non-league schedule.
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The Basalt High School softball team plays Rifle on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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The Basalt High School softball team plays Rifle on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
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The Basalt High School softball team plays Rifle on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, on the BHS field.
Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Softball, soccer fall on Thursday
The Basalt High School softball team hosted Rifle on Thursday, losing 21-5 to the Bears. The game was tied 5-5 after three innings, but Rifle scored five runs in the fourth, four in the fifth and seven in the sixth while shutting out BHS over the final three frames to run away with the win. Basalt fell to 3-7 overall, while Rifle improved to 3-2.
Also Thursday, the BHS boys soccer team had its hands full with Roaring Fork, losing 10-1 in Carbondale. The Rams improved to 2-0, while Basalt fell to 1-4 this fall.
