Coming off a big 42-6 win over rival Pershing County to secure a home playoff game, the Battle Mountain High School football team hit a minor road block in the regular-season finale at Incline on Friday night.
The Highlanders scored the first 17 points of the night and held on for a 45-28 win to hand the Longhorns their second league loss of the season. Despite the win, Incline fell short of the playoffs, tying with White Pine for the final playoff berth. The Bobcats beat the Highlanders to earn the final playoff berth.
"It was a tough game for us,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “We kind of got caught in the perfect storm coming off the emotional win over Lovelock last week, then making a long bus ride and playing a good Incline team."
Incline scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the first quarter to lead 14-0 and extended the gap to 17-0 with a field goal on its first drive of the second quarter.
After three unsuccessful drives, Battle Mountain got its offense going in the second quarter and closed the gap to 17-8 after a 1-yard touchdown run by Cody Ostler. The senior also added the 2-point conversion.
However, the Highlanders scored in the final minute of the second quarter to take a 24-8 lead at halftime.
On the third play of the second half, Ostler broke free for 38-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-14 after the missed conversion. After trading punts Incline broke lose for a 62-yard run and extended their to 30-14 midway through the third quarter.
After trading punts again, Incline connected on a deep pass and added the 2-point conversion to make the score 28-14.
Longhorn quarterback Kasen Taylor lead the offense on a nice drive at the start of the fourth quarter and capped it off with a 6-yard touchdown run to make the score 38-20.
Incline added another score off a long run before Ostler broke free for a 20-yard TD and added the 2-point conversion for the final score of the night.
Aldo Castellanos was 4-of-5 passing for 13 yards. Taylor was 1-of-7 passing.
Ostler led the Battle Mountain rushing attack with 200 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns. Jose Guizar had 56 yards on the ground on seven carries.
"The kids played hard the whole game,” Domagala said. “They just kept battling. I was proud of their effort. They're a mentally tough group. They'll bounce back and be ready for this weekend."
Battle Mountain hosts Pershing County on Friday at 6 p.m. in the opening round of the 2A state playoffs. Yerington hosts White Pine in the other Northern 2A contest.
In southern Nevada, Lincoln County is the top seed and will host Lake Mead on Friday. Needles, Calif., hosts Calvary Chapel in the other Southern 2A game.
If Battle Mountain wins, it will travel to the south to play the top seed from the Southern 2A on Nov. 16, barring a loss by Yerington. The Northern top seed will host the lower seed from the Southern 2A on Nov. 1 6.
