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Battle Mountain football breaks skid against Roaring Fork

Battle Mountain's Wyatt Harwood finds daylight against Roaring Fork on Friday night in Carbondale during the Huskies' 24-14 win over the Rams.
Rex Keep | Special to the Daily |

CARBONDALE — OK, you can admit it now.

You were starting to think, “Same old Battle Mountain,” after Huskies football had lost three straight. Hey, it was on Battle Mountain coach Cliff Lohrey’s mind, too.

“Here’s the thing. I’m a straight-shooter,” he said. “I was worried after dropping three straight, to be honest. To their credit, we had an outstanding week of practice.”



And now, everything’s sunny and bright after Battle Mountain dumped Roaring Fork, 24-14, on Friday night in Carbondale.

Goodbye, losing streak. Hello, win column.

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“That was a big win for two reasons,” Lohrey said. “No. 1, Roaring Fork is a good football team. The second is that the kids need to see hard work pays off.”

And they did so in thrilling fashion.

Down 7-0, Noah Shamis capped a nice drive at the end of the first quarter with a two-yard plunge to tie it.

It was a defensive struggle for the rest of the half. The Huskies started to crank it up in the third quarter, when Wyatt Harwood showed he’s on his way back to good health with a 35-yard run, which set up another Shamis touchdown. Harwood carried a good portion of the Roaring Fork defense, while bringing the ball to the shadow of the goal line.

Taking it to the House

The Rams responded and tied it up. Battle Mountain took the lead for good when the Huskies caught Roaring Fork in cover-three defense with four wide outs. Demetrius Parrish hit Harwood for 85 yards to the house.

The Huskies were not content to sit on a seven-point lead. Battle Mountain faked a punt and Parrish converted it for a first down, keeping a key drive alive. That series ended with a critical 48-yard Chase Keep field goal that made it a two-score game at 24-14.

The offensive line, which lost Bryce Runckel and Bobby Howell to injury on Friday night, drew postgame plaudits from the coach.

The Huskies (2-3 overall and 1-1 in the 2A Slope North) return home next week to face Aspen.

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.


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