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Aspen Skiers quarterback Tyler Ward passes the ball over the heads of the Delta High School team during the game on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
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Aspen Skiers cheer on their teammates after their first touchdown against Delta on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
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Aspen Skiers Jack Seamans runs the ball during the game against Delta High School on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
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Aspen Skiers Jon Woodrow blocks the touchdown as Delta’s Nathan Workman attempts to catch the pass in the end zone during the game in Aspen on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
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Aspen Skiers Nick Spicer tackles Delta Panthers Nolan Bynum during the game on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
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Aspen Skiers attempt to take down Delta’s Cody Sauve during the game on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
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Aspen Skiers run onto the field at the start of the game against Delta High School on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
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Delta Panthers quarterback Nolan Bynum runs the ball during the game in Aspen on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
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Aspen Skiers Jonathon Woodrow blocks a tackle by Delta’s Mason Hollowwa during the game on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
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The Basalt High School football team plays Moffat County on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, in Basalt.
Kara Williams/courtesy
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The Basalt High School football team plays Moffat County on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, in Basalt.
Kara Williams/courtesy
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The Basalt High School football team plays Moffat County on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, in Basalt.
Kara Williams/courtesy
The Aspen High School football team did what no other team had been able to do this season — score on Delta — but it wasn’t enough in a 27-14 loss in the Class 2A Western Slope League opener for both teams Friday night on the AHS turf.
The Panthers (5-0, 1-0 WSL), ranked No. 2 in 2A this week, entered the game having outscored their first four opponents by a combined 201-0 and their vaunted defense held serve in the first half against the Skiers. Big passing plays through the air kept the Delta offense moving most of the contest despite a stingy AHS defense that refused to fully break.
Delta led 7-0 after a quarter thanks to a roughly 50-yard pass and catch and took a 21-0 lead into the locker room. The Panthers scored their second touchdown via a short run early in the second quarter and their third touchdown not long after via a blocked punt they recovered in the end zone.
Aspen outscored Delta in the second half. AHS got on the board barely three minutes into the third quarter on a 2-yard run by junior quarterback Tyler Ward, the first points Delta had allowed this season. Trailing 21-6 now, Aspen’s defense made a few stops but the offense couldn’t return the favor until eventually Delta struck again, another long pass and catch resulting in a touchdown and a 27-6 DHS lead after three quarters.
Aspen got one score back when Ward found senior Jonathan Woodrow on a 31-yard pass and catch score to make it a 13-point game with 3:01 to play, but that would be the end of Aspen’s comeback hopes.
The loss dropped Aspen to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in league play. The Skiers travel to Moffat County next week.
BASALT FOOTBALL ROUTS MOFFAT COUNTY IN WSL OPENER
The Basalt High School football team kept its early-season dominance going Friday in a 49-7 rout of visiting Moffat County at the BHS field. Both teams entered the contest undefeated at 4-0, but the Longhorns were by far the superior team in their Class 2A Western Slope League opener.
Sophomore Gavin Webb led the Basalt offensive attack by rushing for four touchdowns, starting in place of fellow sophomore running back Cole Dombrowski, who was limited by injury. Webb scored the first three touchdowns of the game on runs of 1, 9 and 16 yards, helping BHS race out to a 19-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Bulldogs briefly made it interesting with a touchdown that cut it to 19-7 with just over five minutes to play until half, but a 42-yard run by senior Jackson Rapaport set up a short TD run by Rulbe Alvarado and BHS led 27-7 at the break.
Webb’s fourth touchdown run came early in the second half and junior Peter Zimmer got his own TD run to make it 42-7 Longhorns after three quarters. Freshman Trevin Beckman got his first score on a touchdown run late in the fourth to finish off the game.
The loss was the first of the season for Moffat County, which fell to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in WSL play. Basalt, ranked No. 7 in 2A this week, improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in WSL play. The Longhorns next play at Coal Ridge.
In the other 2A WSL game this week, the Titans lost 44-0 to Rifle, the top-ranked team in the state. Coal Ridge fell to 1-4 and 0-1 while the Bears moved to 5-0 and 1-0. Rifle will host Delta next week in a game that could decide the WSL title.