Battle Mountain moves into second place with shutout win over Yerington Longhorns clinch playoff spot

Tony Erquiaga-T.Erquiaga@winnemuccapublishing.net

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Trilogies are usually saved for the movies but it may be coming to a football field near you in northern Nevada.

The Battle Mountain High School varsity football team played host to Yerington, in what may be its first of three games in four weeks between the two schools. The two rivals met Friday night in Battle Mountain and the Longhorns capped off their homecoming week in impressive fashion with a 13-0 win over the Lions.

"Our defense really came of age tonight, they really did," said BMHS head coach Tim Knight. "The offense is getting there and we are still tinkering with what we want to run. We were not ready for their two-deep. We saw film and they were in a 4-4-1 on everything we saw and film and planned for that. As a coaching staff we know what we wanted to change."

The win clinched a playoff spot for the Longhorns and possibly a home game in the opening round of the state playoffs. If Battle Mountain defeats Rite of Passage in the final game of the season, they would host Yerington. In a scheduling quirk, the Longhorns travel to Yerington on Friday in a non-conference matchup. Battle Mountain was to play Silver Stage on Friday but the Nighthawks are playing as an independent this year and asked to get off the schedule.

"Right now we should be in a good spot to host," Knight said. "Yerington handled Rite of Passage pretty good but that was early in the season. We will have to see where they are now. Don't expect us to show anything on Friday and we just don't want any injuries. We are going to be as vanilla as vanilla can be."

Battle Mountain started slowly on offense, with its first two drives ending on downs and with a punt. The Longhorns' Kyle Bryant ended a Yerington drive with an interception the Lions' Alex Brown in the end zone.

Late in the first quarter Bryant looked as if he was going to put Battle on the board with a touchdown pass but the ball went off his hands. The senior captain made up for it at the end of the first quarter with a 57-yard punt return that put the Longhorns at the Lions' 3-yard line. Three players quarterback Daniel Itza scored on a 1-yard run, giving Battle Mountain a 6-0 lead after the missed extra point with 11:24 to play.

"It was good to see him bounce back," Knight said. "He needed that to get him going again."

After forcing a Yerington punt, Battle Mountain began an 82-yard drive that would conclude the scoring on the night. Itza opened the drive with a 23-yard pass to Hank Filippini and the sophomore quarterback added a run that went to the Yerington 30-yard line after a personal foul on the Lions on the play. On third and 10, Itza connected with a diving David DeAndreis for a 30-yard touchdown catch and a 13-0 lead.

Yerington had its best drive of the night going late in the first half and reached the Battle Mountain 7-yard line, when the Battle Mountain defense stood its ground and stopped the drive on downs.

The Lions continued to hurt themselves in the second half, with turnovers on its first three possessions of the second half. Looking to get any momentum going, Yerington attempted a fake punt at the end of the quarter, which was unsuccessful.

"I think that was the difference in the game," Knight said. "That is a big deal. Our kids played hard and that was nice to see."

Friday's non-conference game at Yerington begins at 5 p.m.

"We are going to have to play these guys two more times," Knight said. "The attitude that we are going to take Friday is going to be a pretty simple game plan.

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Northern 2A Standings
*Pershing County 5-0 6-1
*Battle Mountain 5-1 5-2
*Yerington 5-2 6-2
Rite of Passage 3-2 4-3
Incline 2-3 5-3
Whittell 1-4 2-4
W. Wendover 1-5 2-6
North Tahoe 0-5 1-6
^Silver Stage - 0-5
^Independent
*Clinched playoff spot

Battle Mountain moves into second place with shutout win over Yerington Longhorns clinch playoff spot

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