With the calendar turning to October, the race for the top spot in the Division III North is starting to heat up.
One of the more anticipated match-ups of the year occurred this past Friday night, as Battle Mountain High School returned to its home field for the first time since Aug. 28.
The Longhorns, who were celebrating Homecoming, had their night spoiled by Yerington, the two-time defending state champions. The Lions scored three times in the first quarter, on its way to a 46-23 win.
“That is a tough group right there,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “That was a whole different speed. We need to start playing at a faster speed. That has been hurting us the last couple of weeks. We will work on that.”
Yerington used the big play to its advantage, using just under 90 seconds to score its first points. After forcing the Longhorns to punt on the initial drive of the game, the Lions used a long pass from Dakota Aiazzi to Sam Hammond to get inside the Battle Mountain 10-yard line. Senior running back Reese Neville, did the rest, scoring from 11 yards out to give Yerington a 7-0 lead.
Following a second punt by Battle Mountain, Yerington was on the board 37 seconds later, on a 61-yard run by Neville.
Battle Mountain looked to be in business, when Jaren Price came away with a diving catch on a throw by Bryan Chavira. However, a couple of penalties, including an intentional grounding call, stopped the drive.
Yerington continued to use big plays, as the Lions ended the first quarter with a 31-yard pass from Aiazzi to Hammond for a 20-0 lead.
The combination of Chavira and Price moved the Longhorns down the field on the next possession. Arturo Serrano used his legs to move Battle Mountain inside the Yerington 10-yard line, but a fumble ended the drive.
What could have been a 13-point deficit, turned to 26 moments later, as Michael Monahan scored on a 73-yard run. After a drive by the Longhorns was stopped on downs, the Lions were back in the end zone with 29 seconds left in the first half on a 10-yard pass from Aiazzi to Harrison Cisneros.
Battle Mountain looked to gain momentum at the start of the third quarter, with Brenden Petersen picking off Aiazzi. However, a roughing the passer penalty was called on the play, negating the turnover. In that same stretch, Battle Mountain was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty, and the Lions went into score on a 27-yard run by Neville to make the score 40-0 with 9:51 left in the third quarter.
“We need to tackle better,” Domagala said. “You can’t miss tackles against these guys. We were in good position, but didn’t do a good job of wrapping up and finishing.”
Battle Mountain jumped on the board on its next possession, with a 31-yard pass from Chavira to Price. Price had four catches for 88 yards. The Longhorns forced the Lions to punt on their next two drives, and Battle Mountain was back on the board on a 2-yard run by Chavira.
Battle Mountain threw a scare into Yerington midway through the fourth quarter, when Chavira connected on a 73-yard pass to Calvin Goddard to cut the margin to 40-23. Chavira was 15-for-33 on the night with 224 yards and two touchdowns.
After the third Battle Mountain touchdown was scored, Yerington put its starters back in the game, and Neville responded with his fourth touchdown of the night, scoring from 39 yards out.
“I like the way we came out and competed in the second half,” said the coach. “We could have easily thrown the towel in at halftime.”
Serrano led the rushing attack with 66 yards, and Chavira and Petersen added 60 and 58 yards, respectively.
Battle Mountain hosts Pershing County in its final regular season home game of the year. Kickoff is Friday night at 7 p.m.
The winner of the game will likely host the other in the first round of the playoffs on Friday, Nov. 6.
“Now, we take a couple of things from this one, learn from it and apply it,” Domagala said. “We need to get ready to go against Lovelock and hopefully set us up for a good spot in November.”
