After more than 15 months, the Battle Mountain High School football team was back on Tim Knight Field in its second game of the shortened spring season in northern Nevada.
The Longhorns took on rival Yerington and if you were looking for offense, you were in the wrong place. Both defenses dominated the night as the two squads combined for 14 punts. Yerington used a touchdown late in the first half to hold on for a 7-6 victory.
“I felt we played a pretty good game and the kids played their butts off,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “They are going to be sore the next day. I needed to adjust to the game plan a little quicker. Our plan was to work the middle and they filled it. We had our opportunities on the night.”
Battle Mountain had an early scoring chance midway through the first quarter, when Yerington turned the ball over deep in its own territory on a bad snap on a punt.
The Longhorns at the Lions’ 23-yard line but could not convert the short field into points. Battle Mountain drove into Yerington territory late in the first quarter, but eventually had to punt.
After the teams traded punts twice more, Yerington put an 82-yard drive together that took nearly four minutes off the clock. Sean Patrick-Irvine broke free for a 41-yard run that moved the ball to the Battle Mountain 15-yard line. Moments later, Tucker Rowe put the Lions up 7-0 after a 5-yard rushing touchdown.
“I was pleased with the defense,” Domagala said. “We gave up some 40 points to them last year and gave up one big play tonight and one score. We are putting a new system of offense in and it struggled a bit tonight. We are trying to find our way. We will regroup, fix some things and point this thing in the right direction.”
After each team punted twice in the third quarter, Battle Mountain built up another drive that reached deep in Yerington territory. Once again the drive ended on downs, this time at the Lions’ 6 yard line.
Yerington quickly went 3-and-out on its next drive, putting Battle Mountain in excellent field position at the Lions’ 27 yard line. However, the Longhorns’ momentum quickly stopped with an interception.
Just as quick as Yerington got the ball, they gave it back on a fumble, as Nolan Chopp recovered for Battle Mountain. This time the Longhorns made the Lions pay, as sophomore Anthony Silva, up from the JV squad scored on a 5-yard run on fourth and goal. Battle Mountain missed the 2-point conversion and trailed 7-6 with 4:32 to play.
“We saw bright moments on offense,” added the coach. “We brought our JV quarterback in at the end and told hey it’s a 7-0 game, you are in, go play. He was wide-eyed but the one that scored. The kids rallied around him.”
Battle Mountain had one last chance to win the game but turned the ball over on an interception with two minutes left to play and Yerington ran the clock out from there.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier, with a trip to Lovelock on Friday and a meeting with Pershing County at 7 p.m.
“We need to watch some film, find out where we broke and where I need to make adjustments,” Domagala said. “We will get back at it and get ready for Lovelock.”
