About the only thing that went wrong for the Battle Mountain High School football team on Saturday against Silver Stage was a missed extra point. The Longhorns never skipped a beat, scoring seven touchdowns in the first half, en route to a 62-6 win over the Nighthawks.
“We started strong from the start, and eliminated our turnovers,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “Those two things are what we have been working on.”
To say the start was strong was an understatement, as Battle Mountain ran four plays in the first quarter and scored four touchdowns to go in front 27-0.
The first score was a 20-yard reception by Jaren Price from Bryan Chavira, but Battle Mountain missed the extra point. Arturo Serrano added the next touchdown on a 10-yard run and Regan Knight and Price caught touchdown passes of 19 and 30 yards, respectively, from Chavira to increase the margin to 27-0. Chavira was a perfect 5-for-5 for 121 yards and three touchdowns on the day.
With such a large advantage, Battle Mountain went to the run game for the rest of the contest. The Longhorns tacked on three more touchdowns in the second quarter, beginning with a 5-yard run by Edim Tovar. Serrano and Chavira added runs of two and one, respectively, to push the margin to 48-0 at halftime. The game was played with a running clock to the end as part of the NIAA 45-point rule.
Kort Beaver collected the last two touchdowns, one each in the third and fourth quarter. The junior lead the Battle Mountain rushing attack with 79 yards on five carries. Serrano added 69 yards on six carries, as the Longhorns ran for 206 yards on just 17 carries.
Battle Mountain held Silver Stage to 71 yards of offense, including -31 on the ground. The Nighthawks’ lone score came in the fourth quarter on an 80-yard pass play.
“Our defensive line (Tovar, Eddie Rosas, Cooper Burkhart and D.J. Potter) has played strong in every game this year,” Domagala said. “Today, they spent more time in the Silver Stage backfield than the Nighthawk running backs.”
The coach also had praise for Kylie Sondermann, who had a strong defensive game, recording five tackles and one interception.
Horns Humble Hug
On Friday, Sept. 4, Battle Mountain traveled to Reno.They played a mixture of the Hug varsity and JV, and came away with a 52-0 victory. The Longhorns did much of their damage after the first quarter.
“We started slow once again. Once we got on track, we controlled the game, but we need to be able to start stronger,” added the coach. “Our offensive line opened holes all night long and gave Bryan a ton of time to throw.”
Battle Mountain provided another strong rushing attack, accumulating 289 yards on the ground on 21 carries.
Tovar led the way, gaining 149 yards on eight carries and scoring two touchdowns. After playing on the offensive line, the coaching staff moved him to running back from tackle prior to the game.
Chavira added 75 yards on eight carries, and was 3-for-11 passing for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
Andrew Cox had nine tackles, returned a blocked punt 23 yards for a touchdown. He caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Chavira
“Regan (Knight) and Andrew had great defensive games,” Domagala said. “They took away the outside running game.”
Defensively, Battle Mountain held Hug to 41 yards passing and 24 yards rushing.
Battle Mountain could get its first real test of the season on Friday, with a road trip to American Falls, Idaho for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Beavers are 2-2 on the season, with wins over Filer and Soda Springs.
