Football: Basalt loses big showdown to Delta, Aspen gets torched by Moffat
The battle for the Class 2A Western Slope League in football is essentially down to two teams after Friday night, with Basalt High School failing to keep pace with Delta and Aspen losing a wild game at Moffat County.
In the penultimate game of the regular season next week, Delta will host Moffat County with the winner claiming the league title.
As for Basalt, one of the preseason frontrunners in the WSL, Friday’s loss puts its playoff hopes in jeopardy, while Aspen’s loss to the Bulldogs all but eliminates it from postseason contention.
Delta 42, Basalt 14
Separated by only a spot in this week’s CHSAANow.com poll — Delta at No. 6 and Basalt at No. 7 — the teams didn’t look nearly as equal Friday night on the Panthers’ field. Delta led 7-0 after a quarter and 14-0 early in the second quarter before a long touchdown pass from BHS quarterback Kade Schneider to senior receiver Sam Sherry made it 14-7 with just over five minutes to play in the half.
However, a long Delta touchdown not even two minutes later made it 21-7 at halftime and any momentum BHS may have had was gone. The Longhorns recovered an onside kick to start the second half but failed to score from it, and Delta led 28-7 after three quarters.
A Cooper Crawford touchdown run made it 28-14 with a solid 10 minutes to play, giving Basalt a chance, but the Panthers didn’t allow the game to get any closer and they finished it off with a pair of short TD runs late.
Delta improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the WSL. The Panthers have Moffat and Rifle still to go in the regular season.
Basalt dropped to 5-2 and 1-2, its only other loss coming against Moffat. BHS will likely need to beat both Rifle next week and Aspen the week after in the finale to make the playoffs. Both of those games will be at home for the Longhorns.
Moffat 62, Aspen 35
The Skiers fell into a big hole against No. 4-ranked Moffat on Friday in Craig, trailing 21-0 after a quarter and 27-0 early in the second quarter. An AHS touchdown with just over eight minutes to play until the half cut it to 27-7, but by the break Moffat’s lead had swollen to 36-7.
The second half was wild, with both teams making big plays to stretch out the game. Still, Aspen never truly threatened and trailed 49-21 after three quarters.
The Skiers had no answer for a Moffat rushing attack that saw three different players rush for more than 100 yards. This included junior Evan Atkin, who surpassed 1,000 yards rushing on the season against Aspen.
The Bulldogs improved to a perfect 7-0 overall and 3-0 in league. After Delta next week, they have lowly Coal Ridge to finish out the season. The Titans are 0-7 (0-3) after Friday’s 28-7 loss to Rifle (3-4, 1-2).
Aspen dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in WSL play. The Skiers host Coal Ridge next week in their home finale before a trip to Basalt on Oct. 29 will close out their season.