Beatty vs Tonopah: Two strong teams meet up tonight

Beatty had a tune-up for their big game at Tonopah tonight as they flattened Round Mountain at homecoming last Friday, 58-0.

“It was a total team effort,” Hornets coach Leo Verzilli said. “The blocking was great and running backs and receivers ran their routes. Michael Olson scored three TDs rushing, and Armando Gonzalez scored two TDs.”

The Hornets even passed and Jacob Oseguera caught two touchdown receptions from QB Jacob Henry.

“The defense was led by Robbie Revert and Mariano Villa and pass coverage had improved from the past,” Verzilli said. “Jake Ybarra recovered a fumbled punt in the end zone for a TD.”

The Beatty offense averages 200-300 yards of rushing per game and the lead rusher is Michael Olson, who averages a good 100-yards rushing per game.

But Beatty knows they will be up against a better team than Round Mountain this week. The stakes are high, for a win for either team could mean a third-place seed.

The game at the Muckers kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. Tonopah won at Beatty last year, 54-38.

The Opponent

The Tonopah offense can keep up with Beatty’s (6-1 overall, 4-1 Class 1A Southern) run game. The Muckers have some speedsters. This season the team is averaging 307 yards per game on the ground. The running attack is led by QB Tanner Otteson with 677 yards, followed by Kade Bunker at 532 yards per game.

Tonopah has demonstrated that they can pass and run.

“We need to really play a complete game this Friday,” Verzilli said. “The kids are hungry to get with it. They are focused at practice and asking all the right questions.”

The Muckers football team suffered its second loss of the season, losing 61-6 to Spring Mountain.

In the game against the Golden Eagles (4-2, 4-1), turnovers and penalties played a significant role in the loss.

“We had two false starts through six games and in this game we had seven false starts,” Muckers coach Duffy Otteson said. “Mental errors have hurt us in the last two weeks.”

The Tonopah (5-2, 3-2) defense has been very good this season at stopping the run and holding teams to an average of 50 yards per game, but against Spring Mountain this wasn’t the case.

“We didn’t have the speed to keep up with them and we gave up too many long plays,” the coach said.

Defensively, Brendon Eason had a nice game, leading the Muckers with 10 tackles, a blocked kick and a forced fumble, followed by Otteson with eight tackles.

Freddie Lopez had four tackles; Jordon Berkowitz had three tackles and a fumble recovery. Tonopah will look to Eason and Berkowitz to stop the Hornets’ run game.

The Muckers offense also had problems and was held to just over 120 yards total in offense.

Otteson completed three of 10 passes for 18 yards and had one interception.

“Our quarterback had no time to throw the ball,” Otteson said. “Their defensive line was in our backfield all day long and it was hard to even get a play off.”

The lone touchdown for Tonopah was scored by Tanner Otteson on a QB keeper.

Otteson and his team know what they face.

“We need to play a mistake-free game to beat the Hornets, they are a good team with a lot of speed,” said Otteson.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee @pvtimes.com