After smokey conditions and Covid issues put a damper on most of the high school football games in northern Nevada, the Battle Mountain High School football team was one of the few squads to see the field.
The Longhorns opened their 2021 campaign in strong fashion, beating Lincoln County 41-12 on Friday night at Tim Knight Field.
It was the first of three straight games against Southern 2A games to start the season. Battle Mountain head coach Mitch Domagala noted that the Longhorns scheduled the games to get an early look at was the southern Nevada schools had to offer.
“This was a good performance for a first game,” Domagala said. “The kids played hard.”
The Battle Mountain defense stepped up quickly, forcing a 3-and-out by Lincoln County and followed that with a 50-yard, 14-plasy drive. Junior Vazquez’s punt return gave the Longhorns the good field position to start with.
Battle Mountain capped off the drive with a 7-yard pass from Anthony Del Rio to Brice Domagala. Domagala added the extra point to give the Longhorns a 7-0 advantage.
Lincoln County picked its initial first down of the contest on its next drive, put the possession quickly stalled and the Battle Mountain defense held them on downs.
Nolan Chopp tore off a 15-yard run on the final play of the first quarter and two plays into the second quarter, Del Rio tossed a 35-yard pass to Anthony Silva for a 13-0 lead after the missed extra point.
Lincoln County retuned the ensuing kickoff to the Battle Mountain 45-yard line, but could not do much on offense again, as the Longhorn defense forced a turnover on downs.
On the next play, Del Rio connected with Terrance Fetterly for a 25-yard gain. Battle Mountain looked as if it added to its lead, but a holding penalty nullified a touchdown.
The foul did not matter, as Chopp broke free for back-to-back 10-yard runs to get the Longhorns in scoring position. Moments later, Domagala added his second touchdown of the night on a 7- yard run. Del Rio hit Silva for the 2 points making the score 21-0.
Lincoln County came back with its best drive of the first half and scored its first points of the near the end of the second quarter. The Lynx missed the extra point and Battle Mountain led 1-6 at halftime.
The Longhorns were forced to punt on their first possession of the third quarter and then both teams traded turnovers.
Later in the third quarter, Fetterly returned a Lincoln County punt 40 yards to the 25-yard line to give the Longhorns excellent field position. Just a few plays later, Del Rio found Silva for a 15-yard TD. Domagala added the extra point, making the score 28-6.
Early in the fourth quarter, Battle Mountain recovered a Lincoln County fumble and Del Rio threw his fourth touchdown of the night, this time a 20 yarder to Junior Vazquez. The extra point failed, leaving the score at 34-6.
Del Rio was 12-of-21 on the night for 160 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Del Rio also ran for 28 yards on 10 carries.
Lincoln County put together its best drive of the night that closed the gap to 34-12, but on the ensuing drive Chopp had carries of 10, 30 and 15 yards setting up Fetterly for a 5-yard touchdown run. Domagala kicked the extra point to make the final score 41-12.
Chopp had 80 yards on the ground on eight carries, while Fetterly and Domagala added 34 and 23 yards, rushing, respectively.
Six different players caught a pass for Battle Mountain as Silva had four catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns.
Domagala had three receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown and Fetterly and Chopp each had two catches. Vazquez’s lone catch was the 22-yard score.
“There was a lot of good things tonight,” Domagala said. “We need to keep working and clean up our positioning and execution.”
Battle Mountain travels to Beatty on Saturday to face Needles, Calif. The Longhorns host White Pine of Friday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m.
