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Basalt trounces Olathe

Staff Report

OLATHE – The Longhorns are on a roll.

The Basalt High School football team – buoyed by a pair of defensive touchdowns – won back-to-back games for the first time since restarting its varsity program five years ago, trouncing Olathe 34-15 in Class 2A Western Slope action here Friday.

“The team has just been building confidence all year long, and the players have gotten to the point where they are believing in the system and all guns are firing right now,” first-year coach Forrest Grosh said.



For the second straight week the Longhorns, who downed Cedaredge in quadruple overtime for their first league win of the season last weekend, opened the game with an early interception returned for a touchdown.

Cody Burkholder, who plays quarterback on the offensive side of the ball, picked off his counterpart dashed 57 yards for the score to get the ‘Horns off on the right foot.



“We started both (wins) with an interception for a touchdown, which has helped – getting on the board first and getting some confidence and not having to play from behind,” Grosh said. “The turnovers are definitely a huge advantage in our favor.”

Basalt led 6-0 after the first quarter and held a 21-0 advantage at the half thanks to a Clayton Peetz 2-yard run and a 13-yard Burkholder-to-Caleb Nye pass play.

Peetz impacted both sides of the ball with 162 yards rushing on 18 carries and two interceptions, one of which he turned into a 94-yard touchdown return.

Olathe cut the lead to 21-7 at the end of the third quarter, but Peetz’s interception return, along with a 25-yard touchdown run by Ross Unglert – who missed the first six games of the season – sealed the victory.

Unglert finished the game with 58 yards on 11 carries and also racked up six tackles, six assists and a fumble recovery on the defensive side.

“(Unglert) has been back the last two weeks and he’s definitely helped with the team morale and his play on the field in general,” Grosh said.

Peetz led the defense with eight tackles and six assists and Grosh also singled out J.T. Donovan, Nye, Adam Gawrys and Chris Black for their defensive play.

Zach Southward anchored the offensive and defensive lines.

“They were keying on him and he definitely stood up to the challenge,” Grosh said.

Basalt improves to 2-4 in the Western Slope Conference (3-5 overall), while Olathe drops to 1-5 (1-7). The Longhorns wrap up their season Friday at home against Hotchkiss.

“We’re really looking forward to next week,” Grosh said. “We get that one and finish the season 3-0 and get our record to 4-5.”


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