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Nov 05, 2024

Preps: Basalt football beats Aspen to go 9-0; teams await playoff fates | AspenTimes.com

News News | Nov 3, 2024 [email protected] For the second time in three seasons, the Basalt High School football team has finished the regular season undefeated and is set to host a first-round

News News | Nov 3, 2024

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For the second time in three seasons, the Basalt High School football team has finished the regular season undefeated and is set to host a first-round playoff game this coming weekend.

The Longhorns pulled away from rival Aspen on Friday night, winning 35-21 on the BHS field. Basalt, now 9-0 and the Class 2A West league champion, will find out its postseason fate on Sunday when the 16-team state playoff bracket is unveiled.

As of Saturday evening, BHS was No. 2 in the CHSAANow.com seeding index, which determines postseason seeding. Any first-round playoff game would likely be played on Saturday afternoon.

Aspen finishes the regular season 5-4 overall. Sitting at No. 19 in the seeding index as of Saturday, it looks unlikely but not impossible that AHS makes the playoffs.

The Skiers played tough in the first half against the Longhorns. Down 7-0 after an early touchdown catch by Basalt’s Taylor Hays, AHS answered with a roughly 80-yard catch and run for a score by Chile Smart to make it 7-7 after a quarter.

Basalt retook the lead with a short Will Tarallo TD run midway through the second quarter, but Aspen was able to get it back to even with another Smart TD catch as the half drew to a close. It was 14-14 at the break.

The Longhorns controlled most of the second half. A 1-yard run by tailback William Daniel made it 21-14 late in the third quarter. The game really turned just after that, when an AHS fumble set up a 70-yard catch and run by Daniel and suddenly it was 28-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

Basalt’s Parker Sims caught a tipped pass for a TD that essentially iced it with 6:07 to go, although Aspen did get one final score when Alec Slesinger-Hall scooped up a loose ball on offense and ran it in for the score with about five minutes to play.

Basalt ran the clock out from there. It was the 11th straight BHS win in the series over Aspen, dating back to the last AHS win in 2013.

Per MaxPreps, Daniel finished with 138 yards rushing and 112 yards receiving with the two scores. Tarallo had 100 yards rushing on the nose, and quarterback Karson Schneider was 9 of 13 passing for 166 yards with two touchdowns.

Aspen had a strong game rushing from Dylan Mika, who ran for 121 yards on 19 carries. Quarterback Calvin Delaney was 10 of 20 passing for 171 yards with two scores.

For the win, BHS gets to keep the Fryingpan trophy, a relatively new incentive for the victor each year.

Aspen High School football’s Calvin Delaney looks to throw against Basalt on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 35-21.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Aspen High School football’s Landen Thurber, top, is tackled by Basalt’s Dylan Johnston on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 35-21.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Aspen High School football’s Landen Thurber carries the ball against Basalt on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 35-21.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Players line up over the ball as the Aspen High School football team plays against Basalt on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 35-21.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Aspen High School football’s Dylan Mika carries the ball against Basalt on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 35-21.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Aspen High School football’s Henry Hurd jogs out to his spot prior to a play against Basalt on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 35-21.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Basalt High School football’s Karson Schneider throws the ball against Aspen on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, on the BHS field. The Longhorns won, 35-21.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Basalt High School football quarterback Karson Schneider, back wearing No. 2, throws against Aspen on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, on the BHS field.Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

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Roaring Fork football lost 41-6 to North Fork on Friday in their regular-season finale. The Rams finish the fall 3-6 overall and are unlikely to make postseason play in 1A.

The season came to an end for cross country on Saturday with the state championship meet, held at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.

In the Class 3A boys race, Basalt High School junior Towler Scott led area runners by finishing 20th overall in 17 minutes, 8.7 seconds. Scott won the regional race last week in Fraser.

Aspen’s top male runner was sophomore Jack Diaz, who was 75th in 18:01.5. Resurrection Christian’s Jackson Fagerlin won the state championship in 16:05.3.

As for team scores, Salida won the 3A boys title with 85 points. Jefferson Academy was second with 116 points and Banning Lewis Prep was third with 126 points. Coal Ridge finished 15th and Aspen was 20th, last among scoring teams (AHS only had five of seven possible runners). With only Scott competing, Basalt did not record a team score.

For the 3A girls, Aspen senior Julia Diaz led the local runners, finishing 28th overall in 20:22.7. AHS sophomore Annabelle Case was 46th in 20:57.3 and Basalt senior Isabella Moon was 47th in 20:58. Of note, Coal Ridge sophomore Effie Fletcher was 15th in 19:50.9.

Eaton sophomore Delaney Reuter won the 3A girls race in 17:26.9.

The Classical Academy won the 3A girls team title with 36 points. Manitou Springs was second with 83 points, and Salida was third with 108 points. Coal Ridge finished seventh with 241, Basalt was 12th with 299, and Aspen was 13th with 303 points.

In 2A, Carbondale’s Colorado Rocky Mountain School was 15th in the boys race, led by senior Canyon Cherney’s 40th-place finish (18:14.9). The CRMS girls finished sixth, led by freshmen Genevieve Vickers (21:21.5) and Kayla Steele (21:25.6), who placed 22nd and 23rd, respectively. A third freshman, Abigail O’Keefe, was 46th in 22:29.9.

Golden View Classical Academy won the 2A boys team title, while Crested Butte was state runner-up. Heritage Christian won the 2A girls team title, while Lake County was state runner-up.

Aspen volleyball closed out the regular season on Saturday with a 3-0 home win over Moffat County. The Skiers finish 12-10 overall and should be among the teams headed to the postseason.

The 36-team field for the Class 3A regionals will be seeded on Monday.

Basalt finished the regular season on Saturday with a tournament, going 1-3, the win coming 2-1 over Brighton. The Longhorns beat Grand Valley on Oct. 31 in their league finale, 3-2.

BHS, 5-15 overall, isn’t expected to make regional play.

Roaring Fork finished 9-13 overall and is a longshot for regionals.

The Basalt boys soccer season came to an end on Thursday with a 3-1 loss at No. 7 seed Woodland Park in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament. The Panthers (12-1-3) will play No. 10 Timnath in the second round.

BHS, seeded No. 26, finishes the season 5-10-1 overall. Aspen did not make the 32-team playoff field, finishing 6-8-1 overall.

Among the teams advancing past the first round was Roaring Fork. The No. 5-seeded Rams beat No. 28 Rocky Mountain Prep in the opener, 1-0 in overtime. Roaring Fork (11-3-2) will host No. 12 The Academy (9-4-3) in the second round on Tuesday. Game time is tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. in Carbondale.

The Academy beat No. 21 Fort Lupton in the first round, 3-0.

No. 9 Coal Ridge beat No. 24 Bayfield in the first round, 7-1, and will play No. 8 Kent Denver in the second round. No. 4 Rifle was a 3-1 winner over No. 24 DSST: Conservatory Green in the first round and will play No. 13 Aurora West College Prep in the next round.

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