YOUR AD HERE »

Basalt remains undefeated with win over Glenwood Springs, Skiers beat Huskies

Basalt senior receiver Dylan Madden reaches across the goal line to score at home against Glenwood Springs on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. The play was called back because of a flag.
Ray K. Erku/Glenwood Springs Post Independent

Glenwood Springs High School football, fresh from a win over Rifle last week, faced its biggest test so far this season Friday night: Undefeated Basalt. Away.

Maybe they had jitters facing one of Class 2A’s top-ranked teams. Maybe it’s because lightning concerns delayed kickoff by 40 minutes. Or, maybe, it’s because it pretty much rained all night.

Whichever the case, multiple botched snaps, offensive offsides and defensive encroachment penalties created a not-so-perfect storm for Glenwood Springs in the first half.



Though the likes of Demons speedsters Marcos Aragon and Joaquin Sandoval tried valiantly to even the score in the second half, Glenwood would suffer their second loss of the season, 28-12.

“It’s a huge rivalry for us and the kids played their hearts out,” Basalt coach Carl Frerichs said. “We knew Joaquin is a heck of a quarterback. I couldn’t be more proud of my (defensive) ends, and my spies were on him all night.” 




Basalt, unsurprisingly, immediately cashed in on Glenwood’s first-half blunders.

It all began with Basalt’s opening drive. Marching downfield to Glenwood’s red zone, Basalt senior quarterback Kade Schneider completed a short touchdown pass to senior receiver Dylan Madden.

Basalt senior Cooper Crawford rushes against Glenwood Springs defenders on Friday.
Ray K. Erku/Glenwood Springs Post Independent

Next possession, Glenwood’s offense committed an offside penalty on third down. They punted. Schneider was intercepted by Sandoval on the following possession. The very next play, Sandoval was intercepted by Basalt junior linebacker Mav Dombrowski.

The Longhorns responded with an up-the-gut touchdown bash by 6-foot, 3-inch, 215-pound senior running back Cooper Crawford. Basalt led 14-0 at 7:10 in the second quarter.

“It’s his birthday today. He’s a great kid, and many 2A schools don’t have a 215-pound running back there,” Frerichs said of Crawford. “We’re getting happier and happier because he’s running downhill.”

Two consecutive bad snaps later, Glenwood again had to punt, and soon Schneider was quarterback-sneaking Basalt’s third touchdown of the game at the 2:32 mark. The score locked in a 21-0 lead for the Longhorns heading into halftime.

This didn’t deter any second-half determination for Glenwood Springs. Despite rain fluctuating between tolerably light and a heavy “Let’s go home” downpour, a fire somehow ignited underneath the Demons.

Glenwood Springs coach Thor Jensen said he told his players at halftime to play with heart and prove they can play football.

“I mean, 21 points — the way we play offense — we should be able to overcome,” he said. 

Glenwood Springs senior Marcos Aragon runs downfield toward the end zone against Basalt on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, in Basalt.
Ray K. Erku/Glenwood Springs Post Independent

At 7:20 in the third quarter, Aragon took a handoff from Sandoval at their own 41-yard line, juked Basalt defenders out of their cleats and burned downfield for a 59-yard rushing touchdown.

“All our kids didn’t quit,” Jensen said. “They came out in the second half and decided they wanted to figure things out.”

“The first half, I don’t know what happened. We need to figure out how to get off the bus better.”

The Glenwood Springs defense then came up huge on three occasions. Next possession they forced Basalt into a fourth-down situation and an inevitable punt. Sandoval then capitalized on the opportunity, scoring on a long rush downfield.

Down 21-12 to start the fourth, Glenwood defense forced another fourth-down situation for the Longhorns. Basalt again punted. The Glenwood offense again marched downfield in response. But then they fumbled.

The Basalt offense responded by getting to Glenwood’s 8-yard line and, guess what? The Glenwood defense stuffed the stout Crawford on fourth down and again regained possession.

But Glenwood’s offense was kept from scoring anymore touchdowns. At 3:44 left in the game, Crawford rushed for his second touchdown of the game and, later, sacked Sandoval twice to put the joust to bed. 

The 3A Demons are now 2-2 overall and host a non-league game against Grand Junction Central at 7 p.m. Friday. After that, they have a bye week and then prepare for their first 3A League 3 game of the season against Battle Mountain (0-4).

“(We’ll) repair the damage. That was a physical game,” Jensen said. “We gotta go figure out where everybody is and get our heads straight. Central is going to bring it.”

The Longhorns are now 4-0. They have a bye this week before opening league play at home against Grand Valley on Sept. 30.

Aspen rallies to beat Battle Mountain

Down early, the Aspen High School football team survived a sloppy game to get its first win of the season on Friday, beating visiting Battle Mountain 15-8 on the damp AHS turf.

Aspen High School quarterback Nate Thomas passes against Battle Mountain on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, on the AHS turf.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

The Skiers trailed 8-0 at halftime after giving up a short touchdown run in the late stages of the first quarter, the final play of a long first drive for the Huskies.

But out of the halftime break, Aspen came to life with a long TD pass from senior quarterback Nate Thomas to junior Tanner Benson, making it 8-7. Then, not long later, Henry Hurd scored via a blocked punt and even got the 2-point conversion from Thomas to make it 15-8 with 9:13 still to go in the third quarter.

Both defenses held from there in a game full of penalties. Battle Mountain, which plays in the higher Class 3A, fell to 0-4 overall. The Huskies also lost to Basalt two weeks ago, 43-8.

Aspen improved to 1-2 on the season after losses to Gunnison (45-0) and Meeker (41-14). The Skiers will close out non-league play on Friday with a game at Steamboat Springs. AHS opens 2A league play Sept. 30 at Coal Ridge.

Aspen Times sports editor Austin Colbert contributed to this report.