It was a tale of two halves for the Basalt High School football team on Friday night.
After trailing 13-7 at halftime, the Longhorns regrouped, scored three unanswered touchdowns and held on for a 28-13 win over a visiting Coal Ridge team - snapping their three-game losing skid in the process.
"Once we had the momentum going our way we carried it the entire second half," said Basalt head coach Carl Frerichs.
Senior running back Dalton Jacobsen led the Longhorns' rushing attack with 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and teammate Cody Kosinski had several big blocks and added 78 bruising yards and one score from his fullback position. Basalt quarterback Dillon Buck completed just three for four on passes, but made them count as he found tight end Luke Diekman for an 11-yard touchdown.
Pacing the Longhorns' defense was middle linebacker Michael Miller with 11 tackles. Kosinki made eight stops, Taylor Foreman-Niko had five tackles, one sack and two fumble recoveries while teammate Taylor Mills had a pair of interceptions.
The statistics, however, weren't all positive for Basalt.
With 5:45 remaining in the first quarter, Longhorn return man Corey Ostrander fumbled a punt on the 35-yard line. Coal Ridge recovered and turned the turnover into a touchdown, scoring on a 25-yard run to take a 7-0 lead.
Kosinki gave the Longhorns excellent field position as he returned the ensuing kickoff 35-yards. The offense took advantage and marched down the field, capping the drive with a one-yard Kosinski touchdown run to even the score 7-7 with 11:07 remaining in the second quarter.
On their following possession, Coal Ridge responded with a 55-yard touchdown run. The Basalt special teams unit came up big - blocking the extra point conversion to make the score 13-7.
Basalt tried to cut into the deficit but was stopped on the fourth down with three yards to go at their own 48 yardline with 5:24 remaining in the quarter.
Coal Ridge seemed determined to increase its lead before the half and marched down to the Basalt 34 yardline. With 10 seconds remaining, the Titans quarterback aired out a deep ball intended for their 6-foot-8 receiver. The pass, however, was overthrown and intercepted by Mills with three seconds remaining in the half.
The Basalt offense opened the second half with a potent rushing attack behind the bruising blocks of Kosinski. With 7:45 remaining in the third quarter, Jacobsen scored on a one-yard run and the Longhorns took their first lead of the night, 14-13.
The Basalt defense played inspired and forced a third and long situation where Coal Ridge fumbled and Foreman-Niko recovered.
The Basalt offense was unable to capitalize and was forced to punt. The Coal Ridge player fumbled the ball and Buck recovered on the 10 yardline. After being stuffed on two rushing attempts, Basalt turned to the air and Buck found Diekman for an 11-yard touchdown-giving the Longhorns a 21-13 lead.
Foreman-Niko made consecutive big plays, recording a sack and then a fumble recovery.
Four plays later, Jacobsen found the endzone on an eight-yard run to give the Longhorns a 28-13 lead they would not surrender.
Coal Ridge mounted a comeback but its attempt fell flat as Mills intercepted his second pass of the night with 3:05 remaining in the game and the Longhorns held on for the win.
The victory comes following several tough losses for Basalt.
"We've been playing really hard," said Frerichs. "Roaring Fork, we out gained them by 100 yards and still lost. Grand Valley we were tied at halftime. So finally the ball went our way."
With the win Basalt improves to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the 2A Western Slope division while the loss drops Coal Ridge to 4-3 and 1-3.
The Longhorns hope to continue their winning ways when they travel to face Cedaredge on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.
kai@aspendailynews.com
