Preps: Aspen football falls in home opener; volleyball off to hot start
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
A good bit of rain and a bevy of turnovers put a damper on the Aspen High School football team’s home opener on Friday night, a 48-7 loss to Steamboat Springs on the AHS turf.
This was also the first home game for first-year head coach Bryce Sandoval, who won in his debut with the Skiers on Aug. 29, a 40-0 victory over Grand Valley.
Steamboat, a strong Class 3A program, improved to 3-0 with other wins coming over Coal Ridge (39-16) and Moffat County (55-0). The Sailors are off until hosting Summit on Sept. 26.
The 2A Skiers, now 1-1, will play Summit this coming Friday, Sept. 19, in Frisco. The 3A Tigers are 0-2 with losses to Glenwood Springs (34-23) and Canon City (42-8).
Down in Glenwood on Friday night, the 3A Demons pulled an upset locally by beating 2A powerhouse Basalt, 13-7, in a game dominated by weather and defense. It was Glenwood’s first win over the Longhorns since the 2020 pandemic season.
Now 2-2, the Demons are off until playing at George Washington on Sept. 27.
Basalt, also 2-2, will look to bounce back this coming Friday, Sept. 19, against Teton (4 p.m. kickoff), a game being played in Rock Springs, Wyoming. The rare out-of-state contest came as a result of BHS struggling to find non-league opponents to schedule, and the two coaches having known each other previously.
AHS volleyball off to hot start
Aspen volleyball is off to an impressive start this fall, sitting at 6-1 with its first home game looming. After a 3-0 win at Olathe to open play, the Skiers won a Front Range tournament, beating Lake County, DSST: College View, Vail Christian, and Gunnison in best-of-three matches.
The only slip-up is a 3-1 loss at Glenwood Springs on Sept. 9. AHS bounced back with a 3-0 league win at Grand Valley on Thursday.
Next up is Thursday’s home opener against league foe Cedaredge, scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start.
Basalt volleyball is 2-2 so far, with back-to-back losses to Glenwood (3-0) and Roaring Fork (3-2) being followed by wins over Olathe (3-1) and Cedaredge (3-0). BHS will next host Vail Mountain on Tuesday (6 p.m. start in Basalt).
Roaring Fork is 2-7 overall. The Rams are at Vail Christian on Tuesday.
Aspen, Basalt soccer face-off on deck
Aspen boys soccer is 1-1 so far, with a 7-0 home win over Caprock Academy and a 4-0 loss at Steamboat Springs. The Skiers next play Colorado Rocky Mountain School on Tuesday in Carbondale (4 p.m. start).
Basalt was 1-4-1 overall heading into Saturday’s game at Delta. The Longhorns will play at Aspen on Thursday. Game start is 6 p.m. on the AHS turf.
Roaring Fork was 2-1 entering Saturday’s game at Summit.
Basalt edges Aspen golf
Aspen golf last competed on Tuesday at the Gunnison Invitational at Dos Rios, although none of the key varsity players competed. With a collective 278, the Skiers were 11th as a team. Alamosa, at 248 in third, was the only other 3A team ahead of Aspen.
Senior Eli Genshaft shot 13-over 84 to tie for 14th overall in leading the Skiers.
The varsity groups did compete last Monday in Rifle, with Basalt taking the team title (234) by a single stroke over Aspen (235).
Battle Mountain’s William Morrison took the individual win, shooting 2-over 74. Tied for second were Aspen junior Oliver Pullis and Basalt senior Elijah Kelley, each shooting 4-over 76.
State golf is scheduled for Oct. 6-7 in Eagle. There is no regional tournament this season, with golfers qualifying based off of their regular-season results.
Runners in New Castle
Aspen cross country sent runners to New Castle on Friday for the Coal Ridge Invitational. AHS junior Jack Diaz was fifth in the boys race with a time of 17 minutes, 20.27 seconds. Palisade’s Hyrum DeFord won in 16:14.73. The AHS boys were sixth as a team.
In the girls race, Aspen’s Annabelle Case was 11th overall in 21:15.28. The race was won by unattached runner Austin Cook in 19:10.62. The AHS girls were fourth as a team.
The Skiers plan to race in Fruita this coming Saturday, with Moffat County hosting a meet the following weekend. Aspen’s annual home race is scheduled for Oct. 4.
Basalt did not send any runners to New Castle.
AHS softball heads home
Basalt softball fell to 3-11 after losing twice on Saturday to Montezuma-Cortez, 18-0 and 23-7. BHS plays on Tuesday at Battle Mountain.
Aspen softball is 0-3. The Skiers are set to host Montezuma-Cortez (4-12) for a Tuesday doubleheader.
AHS tennis escapes Basalt
Aspen tennis played Basalt in its opener on Sept. 3 at Crown Mountain Park, winning 4-3. BHS did win two of the three singles matches.
The teams have had mixed results since, with the Skiers losing 7-0 to Grand Junction but pulling off a 4-3 home win over Steamboat Springs on Thursday. The rising Longhorn program followed the Aspen loss with a 7-0 win over Fruita Monument on Wednesday.
Aspen and Basalt will see each other once more in the regular season, a Sept. 22 match in Aspen.
Preps: Aspen football falls in home opener; volleyball off to hot start
A good bit of rain and a bevy of turnovers put a damper on the Aspen High School football team’s home opener on Friday night.
Snowmass Balloon Festival still on, despite grounding
Event officials reminded the Snowmass community that this weekend’s balloon festival will carry on despite the lack of air time.
