The Battle Mountain High School football team continued its winning ways in Tahoe City, Calif., on Saturday afternoon with a 34-20 win over North Tahoe.
It was the sixth straight win for the Longhorns, after suffering an opening-season loss to Lincoln County. Lincoln County is currently the top team in the Southern 2A.
After holding North Tahoe to a three-and-out on the opening drive of the contest, the Battle Mountain offense took over on the North Tahoe side of the field. On the first play from scrimmage, Cody Ostler raced 46 yards for the touchdown and a 6-0 lead after the missed extra point.
The teams traded short drives and punts for the remainder of the first quarter.
Following a nice punt return by Aldo Castellanos, the Longhorns were in business again at the North Tahoe 38-yard line. Four plays later, D.J. Martinez threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Castellanos. The two teammates connected again for the 2-point conversion and a 14-0 lead.
After another short defensive stand, the Longhorns’ offense took the field again and once more Ostler scored a touchdown, this time from 55 yards out. Nestor Miramontes added the extra point to make the score 21-0.
Late in the first half, Marcus Jury intercepted a North Tahoe pass, which led to Miramontes 30-yard field goal and a 24-0 advantage at halftime. Battle Mountain outscored North Tahoe 18-0 in the second quarter.
The teams traded punts on the first series of the second half and on Battle Mountain’s second series of the third quarter, North Tahoe intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown to close the gap to 24-6 after the missed extra point.
North Tahoe’s excitement was short-lived, as two plays later Martinez connected with Jose Guizar from 26 yards out for a TD. Miramontes added the extra point for a 31-6 lead.
In the fourth quarter, North Tahoe connected on a touchdown pass on a broken coverage by the Battle Mountain defense and added the 2-point conversion making the score 31-14.
After a long kick return by Castellanos, Miramontes kicked a 27 yard field goal for the Longhorns’ final points of the night.
North Tahoe scored a late touchdown on a desperation throw making the final score 34-20.
“I thought we played a good game defensively,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “We held the Tahoe quarterback, who was leading the league in rushing, to -5 yards for the game.”
Ostler led the Battle Mountain running attack once again with 230 yards on 20 carries. The Longhorns had 250 yards on the ground as a team.
Martinez was 9-of-25 passing for 141 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. Castellanos had four catches for 67 yards, Jose Guizar three receptions for 43 yards and Jury caught two balls for 31 yards.
“Our pass rush (Daegan McClary, Kris Hall and Cesar Tovar) disrupted the their passing game all day long,” Domagala said. “I thought Chase Durick, who was making his first start on defense today, did a real good job for us.”
Battle Mountain celebrates Homecoming this week and hosts Yerington on Friday at 7 p.m.
