The Battle Mountain and Pershing County football teams took to the gridiron this past Friday night at Tim Knight Field in Battle Mountain to renew the long-standing rivalry between the two.
A late fourth-quarter score helped the Mustangs pull out a 16-15 win in a tightly-contested football game. The two teams did not disappoint as each squad played a strong defense and made big plays on offense.
The Mustangs scored on their opening drive of the night on a 6-yard touchdown run by Jayce Leyva. The score put the Mustangs up 6-0 after the missed extra point. The Longhorns were unable to respond with multiple drives in the first half ending with punts. Pershing County and Battle Mountain played strong defense and each team punted on every other drive in the first quarter.
With 10 minutes to go in the first half, the Mustangs' Leyva broke out for a long run before being tackled at the Longhorns' 11-yard line. The Battle Mountain defense held tight from there and forced a 25-yard field goal by Erick Franco, bringing the PCHS lead to 9-0. Battle Mountain turned the ball over on downs on the following drive.
On the following Mustang drive, Longhorn linebacker Jace Clark recovered a fumble on the Battle Mountain 37-yard line. The Longhorns were unable to capitalize off the turnover and were forced to punt. The teams went into the half with the Mustangs leading 9-0.
The start of the third quarter showed a different offensive team for the Longhorns. Running back Payton Ayers broke free for a 38-yard run putting the Longhorns just outside the red zone. Ayers followed that run with another that placed the ball on the Pershing County 12-yard line. Battle Mountain quarterback Gabe Naveran finished the drive off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Reese Artz to close the gap to 9-7.
The Longhorns then stopped the Mustangs on fourth down with only one yard to go on the following drive. Ayers continued his strong third quarter play, as the running back broke out for another long 15-yard run, taking the ball down to the Mustangs' 15-yard line.
The Longhorns were able to cap off the drive with Naveran running in for the score from four yards out giving the Longhorns the lead for the first time on the night. With Naveran also running in for the 2-point conversion, the Longhorns led at the end of the third quarter 15-9.
“Nobody said an inspirational speech, we just made adjustments and the kids were executing it,” said assistant coach Danny Itza.
The fourth quarter continued with both teams playing some excellent defense. The game felt all but over after the Longhorns' Bobby Kester intercepted Derek Sandusky with seven minutes left in the game. Again, the Longhorns were unable to capitalize on the turnover and the Mustangs took the ball on offense once again.
On the final offensive drive of the night for PCHS, the Mustangs drove down to the Longhorn 3-yard line before Leyva scored the touchdown. After the extra point by Franco, the Mustangs led 16-15 with just over a minute left in the game. The final drive by the Longhorns fell short, despite some great plays leading to a first down, but when Artz stopped a yard short on fourth and long, leaving the game decided.
“The kids stayed calm at halftime, focused on what they needed to do and some good things happened for us,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagla. “They are a good team, and hopefully, we will meet again at state. They usually have a good defense and they played tough tonight.”
The Longhorns dropped to 3-1 in the Northern 2A and 5-2 overall, while the Mustangs moved to 3-0 and 5-1.
Battle Mountain hosts West Wendover on Friday at 7 p.m.
