Battle Mountain Huskies take down Aspen Skiers, 54-6

EDWARDS — It was all Battle Mountain on Friday night in the Ski Town Rivalry as the Huskies rolled to 54-6 win over Aspen in Edwards in 2A Slope North play.

Battle Mountain, which had good field position all night, started with a heavy dose of Wyatt Harwood. A pass-interference call gave the Huskies a fresh set on downs on that drive. Noah Shamis gladly accepted the opportunity with a 30-yard touchdown scamper. Shamis ran in the 2-pointer for good yards.

On defense, Battle Mountain’s Hector Machigua, a freshman, dumped Aspen quarterback R. J. Peshnek for 12 yards. Aspen, which struggled with snaps all evening, promptly snapped the ball out of the end zone for a safety.

The Huskies took the free kick on the Skiers’ 47 and needed only one play for Harwood strike pay dirt for a 17-0 first-quarter lead.

It was more of the same in the second quarter. The Huskies started mixing it up. Chase Keep got in on the rushing on an end around for 15 yards. That set up Chance Archuleta for a 4-yard score.

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A big Shamis punt return set up a short field for the Huskies. Demetrius Parrish called his own number for two yards and another score.

Another Aspen fumble set up a Keep 31-yard field goal. The half ended with Shamis scoring his second touchdown, this for eight yards and 40-0 lead.

At the half, the Huskies retired the No. 12 in honor of Scott Ward, class of 1986. Ward was the quarterback of the Huskies’ 1985 team, which went to the state finals before losing to Roaring Fork on a 2-point conversion. Ward, who went on to serve in the Air Force, including flying Air Force One, died this summer in an auto accident.

Archuleta ripped off two more scoring runs in the second half. Aspen got on the board with a Jesse Lopez touchdown late.

Battle Mountain (3-3, 2-1 in the 2A Slope is at Basalt, while the Skiers (2-5, 0-3) are at Moffat County.

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