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Basalt football handles business against Coal Ridge, remains undefeated

Aspen beat Moffat for third straight win

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Austin Colbert
  

Basalt High School football's Will Tarallo carries the ball against Coal Ridge on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, on the BHS field.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

One game at a time has always been the approach for the Basalt High School football team under longtime head coach Carl Frerichs — a message the players embrace wholeheartedly.

“I am super proud of my kids. It’s another big one if we want to accomplish the goals we have, and that’s where every Friday night is so big right now,” he said. “Because it does matter when we are talking about playoff seeding. We are being honest with the kids, and every Friday night is a huge one because we want to have the seed we want to have.”

The Longhorns took another step toward landing one of the top seeds in Class 2A on Friday night when they rolled by league foe Coal Ridge, 42-7, on the BHS field. The win keeps Basalt undefeated on the season, while the loss snapped a four-game win streak by the Titans.

A team built around the run, it was a dime of a pass from junior quarterback Karson Schneider to senior receiver Taylor Hays on third-and-long, the 34-yard TD connection capping off the first BHS drive and setting the tone for the game.

“He put that perfect, right in the breadbasket. Couldn’t have been a better ball,” Hays said. “It just began with a great week of practice. A ton of focus, guys doing the right thing. We had a lot of confidence coming in, and really, this team is special. I really love this team. All the work we put in is really paying off. It’s awesome to see.”


The Longhorn offense churned through the Titan defense with relative ease in the first half. The second BHS drive ended with a 1-yard TD run by senior William Daniel to make it 14-0, and his junior backfield counterpart Will Tarallo added his own 1-yard TD plunge in the second quarter to push it to 21-0.

It was 28-0 in favor of Basalt at halftime after Schneider found Hays on a 7-yard slant for a TD with only two seconds remaining until the break.

“We know we are a versatile team,” Hays said. “Really, it just comes down to our O-line. All the work we put in. Our backs are awesome, but we couldn’t do it without our line. We thank those guys after every drive.”

Daniel’s 30-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter extended the Basalt lead to 35-0. That’s when Coal Ridge finally put together a complete drive, a couple of big plays setting up a 2-yard TD run by QB Dylan Miller to get the Titans on the scoreboard down 35-7.

Basalt High School football’s Chris Hays, left, makes a tackle on Coal Ridge’s Marcus Munoz on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, on the BHS field.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Basalt responded with one more scoring drive to end the third quarter, Daniel capping it off with another 1-yard TD run and a 42-7 lead. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

“William and Will are both special backs. Karson does an amazing job running the offense. I think a lot of credit needs to go to the offensive line, too,” Frerichs said. “It’s a special group working really hard. And we are bigger up front than we’ve been in a while, so it’s nice to have some kids that are over 200 pounds up front.”

With the loss, Coal Ridge fell to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in league play. The Titans came in having won four straight after a season-opening loss to Steamboat Springs, including a 40-15 rout of Moffat County in the league opener last week.

Coal Ridge will next host Middle Park (1-5, 0-2) on Saturday.

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Basalt improves to 6-0 and 2-0 in league and next will host Moffat County for homecoming on Friday night. The Bulldogs played spoiler in this game a season ago, winning 29-6 over the Longhorns. BHS went 7-2 in the regular season last fall before a first-round playoff loss.

“We will enjoy this one tonight, but we realize Moffat County is going to be a big one. They beat us at our last homecoming … and they are a very well-coached team,” Frerichs said. “We are very excited where we are right now. We had an extremely difficult non-conference schedule. To go through that like we did and then to have our first two games be big league games and go through that, it’s a lot of credit to the kids.”

After Moffat, Basalt’s final two regular-season games are Oct. 25 at Middle Park and Nov. 1 at home against Aspen.

Skiers win third straight, beat Moffat

Aspen football’s mid-season resurgence continued on Thursday night with a 53-6 rout of Moffat County in Craig. After a 1-2 start, including back-to-back losses to Steamboat Springs and Summit, the Skiers have now won three straight over Kent Denver, Middle Park, and now the Bulldogs.

According to MaxPreps, the Skiers rolled in the first half, jumping out to a 41-0 lead by the break. Junior Dylan Mika rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries, with senior Andrew Palmaz adding 73 yards and a TD on six carries.

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Junior quarterback Brett Eggleston went 7 of 9 for 85 yards with two touchdowns, both to senior standout tight end Henry Hurd.

Moffat County fell to 2-4 (0-2), while Aspen is now 4-2 overall and 2-0 in league play. The Skiers next host defending 2A state champion Delta (4-2, 1-1) on Saturday afternoon.

Roaring Fork football hosted Meeker on Friday, losing 40-0. The Rams fell to 2-4 overall, while the Cowboys improved to 4-2. Roaring Fork heads to Olathe (2-3) this Friday.

Glenwood Springs lost to Eagle Valley on Thursday, 28-21, to fall to 4-3 overall. The Demons play at Rifle on Friday.

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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