Two of Nevada’s 2A oldest rivals were back on Tim Knight Field this past Friday in Battle Mountain.
Yerington made the trip to Eastern Nevada and went back to Lyon County with a 42-12 win over Battle Mountain.
The Lions scored the first 28 points of the night, dropping the Longhorns to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Northern 2A.
“They came out so fast and caught us a little off guard,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “They didn’t do anything we were not expecting, they just caught us wide-eyed there for a little bit. Once the kids settled down, we were okay.”
On the strength of a 30-yard pass on its opening possession, Yerington drove 59 yards in just under three minutes to take a 7-0 lead after a 5-yard run by Jonah Eriksen.
It was the first of four touchdowns for Eriksen on the night, who finished with 167 yards rushing on 18 carries.
After forcing to Battle Mountain to punt on its initial drive of the game, Yerington was back in the end zone two plays later, this time on a 39-yard run by Eriksen.
Battle Mountain used a pass from Brice Domagala to Terrance Fetterly to move into Yerington territory on its next drive, but it stalled out and the Longhorns were forced to punt.
Three plays into the second quarter, Yerington stretched its lead to 21-0 on a 2-yard run by Tucker Rowe.
Following back-to-back interceptions, Battle Mountain had its best drive of the first half going but saw it end on downs deep in Yerington territory.
On the next play, the Lions broke free for a 75-yard touchdown but that was called back on a penalty.
It did not matter for the Lions, as Erick Rodriguez had a long run to get them in Longhorn territory and Eriksen finished off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run to give Yerington a 28-0 lead at halftime.
Battle Mountain switched up the offense in the second half, going to a running game primarily with the legs of Domagala and Fetterly.
Domagala provided Battle Mountain’s first points of the night on a 4-yard run with 6:45 left in the third quarter. That cut the deficit to 28-6.
The Longhorns got the ball right back on the ensuing kickoff, as the kick hit a Yerington player on the line 10 yards away and Battle Mountain was there to recover the bal.
Battle Mountain used up three more minutes on the 51-yard drive, as Anthony Del Rio scored on a quarterback sneak from two yards out to make the score 28-12.
“We didn’t get overly excited and there was no yelling at halftime,” Domagala. “The kids came out in the second half and played hard and they battled. I think the second half was a much-better show of these two teams are.”
Yerington did not see the ball for the first nine minutes of the third quarter, but when they did the Lions’, offense could not be stopped, driving 55 yards, capped off by a 9-yard run by Eriksen with 56 seconds left in the third quarter to make the score 36-12.
After a Battle Mountain punt, Yerington put the final points on the board with eight minutes to play on a 3-yard run by Felix Garcia.
Battle Mountain is back home on Friday to play Coral Academy at 7 p.m.
We still have a few more to go and see where the seeding for the playoffs land,” said the coach. “We can’t take Coral lightly and have to be ready to play.”
