The Battle Mountain High School Longhorns traveled to Ely this past Thursday night to face the White Pine High School (WPHS) Bobcats in a division 2A match-up. The Longhorns dominated play and continued with a 45-3 routing of the Bobcats.
Senior quarterback Gabe Naveran and the Longhorn offense completed the season with another high scoring game.
Naveran led the way for the offensive explosion completing 16 of 29 pass attempts for 248 yards and three touchdowns. He finished the game with a QB rating of 118.2, with a completion percentage just under 60 percent.
The touchdown passes were spread evenly with wide receivers Cody Ostler, Mason Fuller and Bobby Kester each collecting a score.
Sophomore running back Ostler also added two more touchdowns through the ground game. The high-powered offense helped the Longhorns build an insurmountable lead going into halftime with BMHS up 38-0.
The Bobcats couldn't get much offense going in the game but did manage to force two Longhorn turnovers.
White Pine did not score until the fourth quarter when the Bobcat kicker Saxtyn Brewster put the team’s only point on the board. The Longhorns also scored their final points in the fourth quarter leading to the match-up’s final score of 45-3.
The win brings Battle Mountain’s final record to 8-2 on the season and sets the stage for a rematch against Yerington High School at Tim Knight Field on Friday at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, White Pine’s season is done. The Bobcats finished 4-6 on the season.
Battle Mountain is focused on a playoff run for the state title and now looks forward to their rematch game.
The last time these two teams played, the Longhorns dominated the Yerington Lions 42-2 on Sept. 29. In that match, the BMHS defense shut down the Lions’ running attack while Naveran contributed 341 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns in the game.
Longhorn head coach Mitch Domagala hopes for similar results during the rematch and mentioned Yerington and Pershing County had been the two teams in the past that have given his teams some trouble.
Meanwhile, Yerington is coming off a 42-6 loss against northern 2A leader Pershing County and finished their season with a 6-3 record.
The playoff push is on for the Longhorns and only time will tell if BMHS will get an opportunity to win their first football state title since the late 1980s.
If Battle Mountain wins, the squad will likely travel to southern Nevada for the state semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 11.
In the other Northern 2A first-round match-up, Pershing County hosts West Wendover at 6 p.m.
If Pershing County wins, it will host a team from the Southern 2A on Saturday, Nov. 11.
The only way Battle Mountain could host a second playoff game is if Pershing County loses to West Wendover.
