A two-minute stretch, at the end of the first half on Friday night, proved to be the downfall for the Battle Mountain High School football team.
The Longhorns concluded a four-game, month-long road trip in Panaca, with a 39-13 loss to Lincoln County. Battle Mountain remained 1-0 in the Division III North and 3-2 overall.
After stopping Lincoln County on the initial drive of the night, Battle Mountain looked poised to score first, quickly driving the ball down the field. However, the drive stalled out on downs inside the 10-yard line.
Early in the second quarter, Lincoln County grabbed a 6-0 lead on busted play, but Battle Mountain bounced right back to tie the contest at 6-6 on a 7-yard touchdown run by Arturo Serrano.
The Lynx took control in the last two minutes of the first half, scoring twice on touchdown passes by McClain O’Connor. The second score came after Lincoln County recovered a pooch kick after the first score, and the Lynx scored on a jump ball in the end zone to lead 18-6 at halftime.
“Those two scores at the end of the half really hurt us,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “We were playing pretty well, and those two balls were just thrown to the perfect spot.”
Lincoln County used another touchdown pass from O’Connor in the third quarter to increase the gap to 24-6. Battle Mountain struck back on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Bryan Chavira to Kort Beaver to cut the deficit to 24-13.
Lincoln County was able to complete two more long passes in the fourth quarter for touchdowns to account for the final score.
“We need to clean up some on our pass defense, both the coverage and the rush,” Domagala said. “Offensively, I thought we played well, but just need to stay consistent and be able to grind out long drives.”
Serrano led the rushing attack for the Longhorns, with 16 carries for 107 yards. Beaver added nine carries for 64 yards.
Battle Mountain celebrates Homecoming this week, and faces Yerington at 7 p.m. on Friday.
