Basalt football beats Pagosa Springs after late-game surge
The Basalt High School football team overcame a slow start to win 39-19 on Friday at Pagosa Springs and keep their undefeated season alive. Leading only 14-12 midway through the third quarter, the Longhorns pulled away late against a battle-tested Pirates’ team.
“It was closer than what that scored showed,” BHS coach Carl Frerichs said. “The fourth quarter we got a couple of touchdowns late and really blew it open, but it was definitely a battle and they were definitely ready to play.”
Basalt trailed 6-0 in the game after an early fumble led to a Pagosa Springs touchdown. BHS got on the board in the second quarter on a Matty Gillis touchdown pass and another score late made it 14-6 Longhorns at halftime.
The Pirates made it 14-12 midway through the third quarter, a failed 2-point conversion keeping BHS in front. From there, the Longhorns ran away with the game.
Unofficially, sophomore running back Cole Dombrowski led BHS with 130 yards rushing and two scores. Gillis threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Jackson Rapaport came up just shy of 100 yards receiving to go wtih a touchdown.
“I’m just so proud of the kids. When you are traveling on a bus — we have to go to Utah and all the way around — so we’ve been on a bus for 10 hours today,” Frerichs said. “I was really proud of the kids and their effort and their attitude. They really stepped up. Started really slow, but finished really strong after a really long day.”
Pagosa Springs fell to 1-3 with the loss, another of those losses coming 19-7 against defending 2A state champion La Junta.
Basalt moved to 3-0 overall after wins over Olathe (29-7) and Battle Mountain (28-0) in its first two games. BHS will host Paonia next week for homecoming to close out non-league play.
Aspen High football beats Cedaredge for first win of fall
The Aspen High School football team earned its first win of the season on Friday, winning 26-6 at Cedaredge in its first road game of the fall.
The Skiers had junior quarterback Tyler Ward back under center after he missed last week’s game against Meeker — a 42-20 loss — because of a shoulder injury. Ward was effective in the first half, guiding the Skiers to a touchdown on their first possession. Tied 6-6 after a quarter, the Skiers broke it open in the second and took a 26-6 lead into the locker room. Neither team scored in the second half.
Class 1A Cedaredge fell to 1-2 with the loss. Aspen improved to 1-2 overall and will host Grand Valley next week for homecoming.
Elsewhere in 2A Western Slope League play Friday, No. 1-ranked Rifle beat Pueblo County, 48-22; Delta won 58-0 over Montezuma-Cortez; Moffat County beat Battle Mountain, 36-34; and Paonia beat Coal Ridge, 17-14.