The Battle Mountain High School football team celebrated its homecoming game when they faced West Wendover High School on Friday, Oct. 13.
The Longhorns took the field on a cold, windy night at Tim Knight Field.
Early in the match-up, the Longhorns established the running game against the Wolverines with a combination of runs by Payton Ayers, Gabe Naveran and Cody Ostler. The Battle Mountain runners accounted for five touchdowns in the game.
The Longhorns were short on coaches this week with the Battle Mountain head coach Mitch Domagala missing the Homecoming game due to a family event.
The opening Longhorn drive wouldn’t show it, though, as BMHS started on their 40-yard line. After a 19-yard run by Naveran, running back Cody Ostler broke loose and weaved between Wolverine tacklers for a 41-yard touchdown run. After Nestor Miramontes' extra point was blocked, the Longhorns led 6-0.
The Wolverines could not respond on their opening drive, losing yards and they were forced to punt after failing to gain a first down.
After the punt, Naveran completed a pass to wide receiver Mason Fuller which brought the ball into Wolverine territory at the 32-yard line.
After a 17-yard run by Ayers, the Longhorns were in the Wolverine red zone. That set up a 15-yard touchdown run by Ayers. The Longhorns completed the 2-point conversion and extended the Longhorn lead to 14-0.
On the following drive, Battle Mountain’s Deandre Powell intercepted the West Wendover pass and returned the ball to the Wolverine 49-yard line. Ostler escaped again for a long run to the Wolverine 11-yard line. After a penalty, Ostler completed the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run, bringing the Longhorn lead to 22-0.
The Battle Mountain defense continued to dominate the West Wendover offensive line, forcing a fumble on the following drive. Linebacker Erik Martinez recovered for Battle Mountain, which led to another Longhorn score. Naveran threw a touchdown pass to Reese Artz in the back of the end zone.
The offense for BMHS was nearly unstoppable, scoring on all but one drive in the first quarter. The defense scored at the end of the first quarter when Wolverine quarterback Eduardo Perez was sacked in the end zone for a safety by linebacker Jace Clark. That gave Battle Mountain a 30-0 advantage.
The first Longhorn drive of the second quarter ended with Naveran scoring a touchdown from 25 yards out. After the Miramontes extra point, the Longhorns led the game by a score of 37-0, starting the running clock under the NIAA mercy rule.
Before the end of the second half, defensive back Daegan McClary intercepted Perez. Naveran scored the final touchdown of the game with a 12-yard touchdown run bringing the score to 44-0 at the end of the first half.
“The kids did a great job on both sides of the field, and we got all the kids an opportunity to play,” said BMHS assistant coach Dave Fuller. “We were expecting Wendover to be tough and we knew they threw the ball a lot, so we prepared for that.”
To the pleasure of the fans wrapped in blankets in the stands, the second half went by quickly with the running clock and the Longhorns running the ball efficiently.
Neither team scored in the second half and the game was complete with a final score of 44-0 in favor of the Longhorns.
Battle Mountain, now 6-2 on the season, will stay at home and face the North Tahoe Lakers on Saturday night.
