BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Two perennial powers in the Northern 2A met up again last week as the Battle Mountain High School varsity football team hosted long-time rival Pershing County on Friday night.
The Longhorns cut the Mustang deficit to 24-9 early in the third period and were looking to score when an interception deep in Pershing County territory stopped the drive. The Mustangs took advantage of the miscue and scored on the ensuing play and went on to win 48-9.
"It was a combination of things for us," said BMHS head coach Tim Knight. "We let the big play hurt us. I'd rather have them grind the ball out and take time off the clock than have them score on one play. We had a chance to make it an eight-point game, threw an interception and Lovelock was off to the races."
Pershing County grabbed an 8-0 lead in the opening quarter. Battle Mountain (1-1 Northern 2A, 1-2 overall) got two of the points back on a safety, as two defenders tackled Mustang quarterback Seth Montes in the end zone.
Pershing County added two more touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to take a 24-2 lead at halftime. Battle Mountain found the end zone early in the second half on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Itza to Ryan Salazar. Salazar then added the extra point. Itza finished the night 10-of-22 for 176 yards and a touchdown.
Moments after Pershing County intercepted Battle Mountain, the Mustangs' Marcus Tippens raced 65 yards for a touchdown. Pershing County added another touchdown in the third quarter to lead 36-9 and put up two more in the fourth for the final outcome.
The Mustangs rushed for over 500 yards on the night and had three players run for more than 120 yards.
"They are a big and physical team," Knight said. "We watched film on them and knew what we had to stop. When we stopped the inside running game, they went to the outside. They ran the ball to the strong side and we would contain a bit and they switched to the weak side."
David DeAndreis led Battle Mountain with 38 yards rushing on six carries. Itza had 10 yards on six carries and Hank Filippini four carries for 12 yards. Kyle Bryan caught three balls for 85 yards, Salazar three receptions for 58 yards and Filippini and DeAndreis had 20 and 16 yards, respectively.
Battle Mountain makes its way down Interstate 80 to face West Wendover on Friday at 7 p.m. (MST).
"We are down a bit this year, so we have to be ready to play," Knight said. "It's not like in the past when you had easy games on the schedule. We had to fight for a win in Incline and we have to be ready to go in West Wendover."
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