You can’t blame the Battle Mountain High School football team if they were a little eager to get on the field for its season-opener against White Pine.
The Longhorns were opening the Silver Standard, Marigold Mining Athletic Complex at Tim Knight Field, before one of the biggest crowds in recent memory.
The nerves were evident in the early going, with bad snaps and dropped passes, but Battle Mountain settled down and cruised to a 50-0 victory over the Bobcats.
“That was quite possibly the worst first quarter in history,” joked BMHS head coach Mitch Domagala. “Everything was out of order, we didn’t get that good of a warm up and having all the pre-game ceremonies threw us off. It was kind of impressive to put that behind them, overcome the bad parts and turn it around and get things going.”
With the early struggles behind them, the Longhorns went off for 31 points in the second quarter and never looked back.
Following a White Pine punt, Battle Mountain scored two touchdowns in three plays. The first score of the night was a 31-yard pass from Bryan Chavira to Calvin Goddard. The Bobcats fumbled the ensuing kick and the Longhorns scored two plays later on a 39-yard pass from Chavira to Jaren Price for a 12-0 lead in a span of 42 seconds.
Battle Mountain added three more touchdowns in the final 4:20 of the first half. After White Pine turned the ball over on downs at midfield, Chavira connected on a 25-yard pass to Arturo Serrano and four players later, Chavira scampered for a 16-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-one. Chavira, a junior, accounted for five touchdowns on the night.
White Pine turned the ball over on fumbles the next two possessions and Battle Mountain quickly made the Bobcats pay for it. Chavira gave the Longhorns a 24-0 advantage when he connected with Price on a 58-yard touchdown pass.
“We started to calm down and controlled the ball,” Domagala said. “Our passing game looked really good tonight. Bryan threw the ball well. We definitely have to clean some stuff up on the run blocking.”
When White Pine fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Battle Mountain quickly drove 30 yards in less than a minute and increased the margin to 31-0 on a 1-yards run by Kort Beaver.
After scoring on its last five possessions of the first half, Battle Mountain was forced to punt on its opening drive of the second half, but that was the only other hiccup of the night.
Chavira scored his second rushing touchdown of the night — a 4-yard run to make the score 38-0 and Brenden Petersen added a 10-yard dash to the end zone for a 44-0 lead. Much of the second half was played with a running clock, as the Bobcats had just two reserves at the end of the game. White Pine lost its starting running back in the first half due to a leg injury and was taken to the hospital as play was stopped on the field for about 10 minutes.
Battle Mountain closed out the scoring late in the fourth quarter on a 25-yards run by Price. In addition, Price caught two passes, both for touchdowns, and 87 yards.
“We got everyone in there we could,” Domagala said. “But, we have 19 players on our roster and got a good group. We weren’t looking to run the score up, but it’s hard when you have just eight subs to work with.”
Chavira was 5-for-11 passing for 159 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 45 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns.
Battle Mountain will hit the road for four straight games, beginning Friday against the Hug JV at 7 p.m. After a week off, the Longhorns open Division III North play at Silver Stage on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 11 a.m.
“All in all, it was pretty good for a first game,” Domagala said. “We got to see what we have to work with. We are definitely stepping up in competition. In the long run, our season will start on Oct. 9 (Yerington). We will use the first five games to build. We have a lot of new faces in new places out there.”
