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Basalt football handles the snow and the Wildcats in easy playoff win

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Austin Colbert
  

Basalt High School junior Parker Sims jumps into the snow in celebration after beating The Academy on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in a Class 2A first-round playoff football game on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 42-14, to advance.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Let it snow.

It’s not like the cold stuff is going to stop the Basalt High School football team. At least it didn’t on Saturday against The Academy in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs, a 42-14 home win for the Longhorns.

The game was delayed by 30 minutes after a winter storm left a few inches of snow on the grass field prior to the original 1 p.m. kickoff. A lot of shoveling later and some afternoon sunshine provided quite the canvas for the win-or-done contest.

“I was really excited. We love the cold,” BHS junior quarterback Karson Schneider said after the win. “We feel like if it’s snowy, cold, sloppy, we always feel like that’s an advantage to us here in the mountains. But we were super excited for this game. We knew it was a big game. It’s just the first part of the climb.”

The win means No. 2 seed Basalt, now 10-0 overall, will advance to the state quarterfinals and play either No. 7 Woodland Park or No. 10 Sterling. That first-round game was postponed on Saturday due to the weather and will now be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Whether or not BHS is at home or on the road next week depends on who wins Sunday’s game.


The Academy, seeded No. 15, finishes the season 6-4 overall.

“The biggest thing I want to give a shout out to is our community,” BHS coach Carl Frerichs said. “What this field was this morning at 9 o’clock, to have parents and everyone coming out here from the community, it’s why I love this place and why it’s such a special place. I think that started off the day great.”

The game also started off great for the Longhorns. It only took a couple of minutes into the first quarter before Schneider connected with senior receiver Taylor Hays from 28 yards out for a 6-0 lead. A successful fake punt on the next possession led to a 36-yard TD run by Hays and a quick 14-0 advantage.

Basalt High School football’s Taylor Hays runs for a touchdown against The Academy on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in a Class 2A first-round playoff game on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 42-14.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt High School football quarterback Karson Schneider looks for a receiver against The Academy on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in a Class 2A first-round playoff game on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 42-14.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
The Academy football players run onto the field prior to playing Basalt on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in a Class 2A first-round playoff game on the BHS field.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

The Academy briefly made it a contest again when Gavin Snortland caught a TD pass from quarterback Jase Farmer that made it 14-7 BHS after a quarter.

The momentum was short-lived. Will Tarallo’s 18-yard TD run extended Basalt’s lead to 21-7 early in the second quarter, and he added a 1-yard TD run to make it 27-7 as halftime was nearing.

A turnover by the Wildcats just before the break allowed Hays to catch another TD pass from Schneider, and the Longhorns took a 35-7 lead into the locker room.

“I’m feeling pretty good. We came together as one team, one unit and just pushed through,” Schneider said. “I feel like the past few games we haven’t really come out with too much energy, and this game we really dominated the first half, I feel like. It’s just a great win for us.”

There was some brief uncertainty early in the third quarter when The Academy’s Aidan Smith capped off a drive with a 31-yard TD catch to make it 35-14. Basalt’s answer was an 80-yard TD run by William Daniel that seemingly iced the game at 42-14 with 8:09 to play in the third quarter.

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The teams exchanged numerous turnovers and punts the rest of the way, including a goal-line stand by the BHS defense with about six minutes remaining that resulted in no more Wildcat points.

“We had them on their toes all night long. Taylor Hays had a dominating performance. Both the Wills did awesome,” Frerichs said. “Overall, I’m super excited for these kids. We get another week. It’s a big deal when you are in the final eight at state. It’s a really huge accomplishment. But as we keep telling these kids, we are not satisfied with this. We want to go a lot further than what we’ve been doing.”

Only half of the first-round games were played on Saturday due to the weather. No. 9 Wellington pulled off a small upset, beating No. 8 and defending state champion Delta, 27-23. No. 6 Berthoud beat No. 11 Montezuma-Cortez, 42-12; and No. 3 The Classical Academy beat No. 14 Pagosa Springs, 49-7.

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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