BASALT – Behind 119 yards and three touchdowns from Colton Cowan, Class 1A Grand Valley continued its assault on bigger schools, shutting down Class 2A Basalt 26-6 on Friday. Five turnovers – three fumbles and two interceptions – did little to slow a potent Cardinal offense that racked up 311 yards of total offense, 225 of that on the ground with John Lantz throwing in a TD and 69 yards to complement Cowan’s legwork. But the Grand Valley defense came through big, nearly matching the offense’s turnover output by forcing four turnovers – three picks and a fumble recovery.For all the takeaways the defense provided, the Longhorns could get little going on offense, managing just 84 yards and five first downs. In fact, the defense provided Basalt’s only points of the night when Willy Klein picked off a Matt Cain pass and returned it 4 yards for a score to get Basalt on the board in the third quarter. It was the second big defensive play of the quarter for Klein, who earlier blocked an extra-point kick. The Cardinals carried a 14-0 lead into halftime, scoring on short runs by Lantz and Cowan.A failed fourth-down conversion try by Basalt set up Grand Valley’s first scoring march, which spanned half the field and required eight plays. Cain connected with receiver Tyler Jensen on a 16-yard strike to highlight the drive, while the Card ground game churned out the remaining 34 yards, including Lantz’s 7-yard scoring scamper. Grand Valley added its second score in the second quarter, parlaying another Longhorn failure on fourth down into a 63-yard scoring drive. Cowan ground out a good chunk of that yardage on a 32-yard scurry that pushed the Cards inside the Basalt 10. Two plays later, Cowan found the end zone from 3 yards away and Michael Shepard nailed his second extra point for a 14-0 Grand Valley advantage.The Cards wasted little time finding pay dirt in the third, with Cowan running a 13-yard score less than 4 minutes in. He scored again in the final quarter, finding the end zone from 15 yards to finalize the count. Grand Valley is done with the big boys for now and will open 1A Western Slope League play at Rangely next week.Grand Valley 26, Basalt 6At BasaltGrand Valley 7 7 6 6 – 26Basalt 0 0 6 0 – 6 SCORING SUMMARYFirst quarterGV – John Lantz 7 run (Michael Shepard kick), 3:07Second quarterGV – Cowan 3 run (Shepard kick), 5:15Third quarterGV – Cowan 13 run (kick blocked), 8:38B – Willy Klein 4 interception return (kick blocked), 4:15 Fourth quarterGV – Cowan 15 run (kick failed), 5:59 GV BFirst downs 18 5Total yards 311 84Rushes-yards 38-225 36-69Passing 86 15Comp-Att-Int 7-13-1 4-8-3 Punts 1-14 4-39.8Fumbles-Lost 3-3 3-1Penalties-Yards 4-35 2-20INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING – Grand Valley, Cowan 18-119, Lantz 6-69, William Waugh 9-19, Landon Pasket 1-17, Matt Cain 4-1. Basalt, Willy Klein 11-47, Matt Schoeller 8-20, Cody Kosinski 5-16, Dalton Jacobson 7-14, Travis D’Anna 1-(minus 9). Buck 4-(minus 19) PASSING – Grand Valley, Cain 7-13-2-86. Basalt, Dillon Buck 4-8-3-15.RECEIVING – Grand Valley, Tyler Jensen 5-77, Lantz 1-14, Landon Pasket 1-5. Basalt, Klein 1-11, Schoeller 1-3, D’Anna 1-2.

At BasaltGrand Valley 7 7 6 6 26Basalt 0 0 6 0 6 SCORING SUMMARYFirst quarterGV John Lantz 7 run (Michael Shepard kick), 3:07Second quarterGV Cowan 3 run (Shepard kick), 5:15Third quarterGV Cowan 13 run (kick blocked), 8:38B Willy Klein 4 interception return (kick blocked), 4:15 Fourth quarterGV Cowan 15 run (kick failed), 5:59 GV BFirst downs 18 5Total yards 311 84Rushes-yards 38-225 36-69Passing 86 15Comp-Att-Int 7-13-1 4-8-3 Punts 1-14 4-39.8Fumbles-Lost 3-3 3-1Penalties-Yards 4-35 2-20INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING Grand Valley, Cowan 18-119, Lantz 6-69, William Waugh 9-19, Landon Pasket 1-17, Matt Cain 4-1. Basalt, Willy Klein 11-47, Matt Schoeller 8-20, Cody Kosinski 5-16, Dalton Jacobson 7-14, Travis DAnna 1-(minus 9). Buck 4-(minus 19) PASSING Grand Valley, Cain 7-13-2-86. Basalt, Dillon Buck 4-8-3-15.RECEIVING Grand Valley, Tyler Jensen 5-77, Lantz 1-14, Landon Pasket 1-5. Basalt, Klein 1-11, Schoeller 1-3, DAnna 1-2.