{"id":2451471,"date":"2019-11-22T19:04:01","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T02:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/delta-expects-different-game-then-first-when-they-face-basalt-in-semis\/"},"modified":"2019-11-22T19:04:01","modified_gmt":"2019-11-23T02:04:01","slug":"delta-expects-different-game-then-first-when-they-face-basalt-in-semis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/delta-expects-different-game-then-first-when-they-face-basalt-in-semis\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta expects different game then first when they face Basalt in semis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Members of Delta High School\u2019s football team cheer from the sidelines after a touchdown during the playoff game against Faith Christian Academy on Nov. 16.<\/strong>
McKenzie Lange\/courtesy<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

When Delta hosted Basalt back on Oct. 18, the third week of the Class 2A Western Slope League football season, the Panthers pounced early and never looked back in a 35-6 win. It was the only time the Longhorns had truly been pushed around this fall, but Delta coach Ben Johnson is expecting a different game on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we started really fast. We just played a good, clean football game. They are doing things differently. I\u2019ve seen film \u2014 he\u2019s opened it up a lot more,\u201d Johnson said, referring to BHS coach Carl Frerichs. \u201cBoth teams are extremely different. We have five completely new offensive linemen. I\u2019m sure they\u2019ve made some changes. So it should be a great game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WSL foes will matchup in the 2A state semifinals on Saturday, a 1 p.m. game hosted by Basalt. The winner will face either No. 2 Sterling or No. 3 Resurrection Christian in the state championship game Nov. 30 in Pueblo.<\/p>\n

This will be the fifth time in four seasons Basalt and Delta have played. They split non-league games in 2016 and 2017, before splitting league games in 2018 and earlier this fall. A state semifinal seems an apt place for the deciding grudge match.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve played each other the last four years. With both teams there are plusses and minuses to that. And I think coach Johnson would feel the exact same,\u201d Frerichs said. \u201cWin or lose, as long as we feel we give the kids a great opportunity as coaches we\u2019ve done our jobs, and if the kids give us everything they got, they\u2019ve done their job. And I just feel it was one of those nights where I don\u2019t think we hit either one of those categories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frerichs was referring to that October game in which Basalt fell behind 14-0 barely a minute into the game and that was that. The Delta loss was the first of the season for then 6-0 Basalt, which would also lose a week later to No. 1 Rifle. The Longhorns avenged that second loss last week, beating the Bears in the state quarterfinals. Saturday, they\u2019ll get the chance to erase that first loss, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cOffensively we moved the ball pretty well between the 30s, we just didn\u2019t put a lot of points on the board,\u201d Frerichs said. \u201cDefensively and special teams were a huge struggle that night.\u201d<\/p>\n

When trying to stop Delta\u2019s offense, Frerichs more or less pointed out everyone, but notably Delta junior quarterback Nolan Bynum. He\u2019s thrown from 2,220 yards with 31 touchdowns and only three interceptions this season. He\u2019s also rushed for 282 yards and nine more scores.<\/p>\n

His growth is a big reason why the Panthers are 10-1 overall. A longtime power on the Western Slope, Delta went a mere 4-5 in 2017 and 6-4 in 2018. DHS lost to Platte Valley in the first round of the playoffs last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last couple of years we were a little low on seniors. These kids have played quite a bit of football, to be honest with you. They are a pretty experienced group,\u201d Johnson said of the bounce-back year, giving a lot of credit to his junior quarterback. \u201cHe had sophomore struggles. This year, he\u2019s a lot more composed, a lot better leader in the huddle. Just grew up and matured a little bit, just like most young sophomores do that are juniors now. He\u2019s just having a good year.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Frerichs noted and Johnson agreed with, Bynum has a lot of help. While senior running back Ku Moo leads the team with 577 rushing yards, he\u2019s one of four, including Bynum, with at least 200 yards rushing this season. Four different Panthers have at least 300 yards receiving, led by senior Hunter Hughes, who has 831 yards and 15 touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can spread the ball out,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe have a lot of kids who can make plays right now and a lot of them are seniors and they\u2019ve been in the program for a number of years. They are just playing really well right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

This will be the first time Basalt has played in a 2A state semifinal. Delta\u2019s been to three semifinal games since 2013, two of them coming in 3A. However, all three of those games ended in losses, the last coming in 2016 to Kent Denver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little weird you play a conference team this late, but it\u2019s fun. Carl has done a great job with that group,\u201d Johnson said. When you get this far you are going to run into good teams. If you play well that day, you are going to move on. If you don\u2019t play well that day, you are not going to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of Delta High School\u2019s football team cheer from the sidelines after a touchdown during the playoff game against Faith Christian Academy on Nov. 16.McKenzie Lange\/courtesy When Delta hosted Basalt back on Oct. 18, the third week of the Class 2A Western Slope League football season, the Panthers pounced early and never looked back in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 05:13:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2451471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451471\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2451471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2451471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2451471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}