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The Aspen Turf bid adieu to a group of 17 seniors in triumphant fashion and with bright LED lights shining on the future of the reinvigorated program on Friday night.
The AHS Skiers closed out their home football schedule with a 21-14 win over Coal Ridge on a solid defensive effort — save for two long touchdowns — and a slew of clutch turnovers. It clinched their first winning season since 2018, showing a resiliency that the program has lacked in previous years.
“We’re leaving this field with a win, I have a great last memory here,” senior Alec Slesinger-Hall said. “When I was a freshman there wasn’t much physicality on the team, but we really wanted to be great and so we decided to pick up the physicality and practice every day and just go hard. We’re pushing not only us but the younger grades to become physical and practice and make this program better.”
Aspen took an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter on short rushing touchdowns from junior Dylan Mika and senior Landen Thurber. Meanwhile, the defense kept the Titans from recording a first down and picked off two passes, the first courtesy of senior Joshua Ford and the second by senior Chile Smart.
Coal Ridge didn’t move the chains until early in the second quarter and didn’t score until near half time. The Skiers got to a first-and-goal situation but turned the ball over on downs before Coal Ridge sophomore running back Jayden Emery broke loose from a dog pile at the line of scrimmage for a 90-plus-yard run.
Aspen senior Alec Slesinger-Hall celebrates after teammate Joshua Ford hauled in a late-game interception to secure the win for the Skiers. Slesinger-Hall had three sacks and a clutch fumble recovery to help Aspen in his last home game on the Aspen Turf.
Rich Allen/Aspen Daily News
The Titans stalled out the Skiers offense and the game entered the half at 14-7. Coal Ridge knotted the game at 14 on the first play of the fourth quarter on a long pass from junior QB Dylan Miller to senior wide receiver Ethan Sanchez, who was wide open down the left side for another 90-plus-yard score.
About six minutes later, a punt attempt downed in the backfield by Coal Ridge on the snap — one of three in the game — gave Aspen the ball on the Skiers’ 19-yard-line. Mika rushed the first snap of the possession into the left side of the end zone.
Coal Ridge came storming down the field on the ensuing possession — albeit with the help of some penalties by Aspen — before senior Alec Slesinger-Hall scooped up a fumble.
“That was a big momentum shift and the whole team was hyped up,” Slesinger-Hall said.
Aspen didn’t do much with the ball, but keyed back in on defense for a game-securing interception by Ford, his second of the game.
“It was nice to see all the boys winning. They’ve been working for this for a while,” Ford said. “I’ve only been playing for two years, so it’s nice to see these boys succeed.”
In all, Aspen notched four interceptions and recovered a fumble. With two interceptions thrown and three fumbles lost, they were even in the turnover game with the Titans.
Even with the turnovers, the team showed showed a new mentality.
“I told our team, what’s different about this team is they never quit, no matter what,” Aspen head coach Eric McCready said. “They could have gotten frustrated, they could have gotten down. They could have said the momentum moved on us, and they never did. That’s what impresses me about this group of kids, they just have the ‘next play’ attitude.”
The Skiers are on the outside looking in on the playoff picture. As of Sunday morning, Aspen sat at No. 20 in the Colorado High School Activities Association seeding index — the top 16 teams make the playoffs.
There’s an outside chance that there’s enough RPI points left on the table in the final week to jump four spots for Aspen, but it’s an uphill battle to claim them. They’re the only team standing in the way of Basalt’s second undefeated regular season in three years, with the third annual Battle of the Frying Pan slated for Friday. The No. 3 Longhorns topped Middle Park 35-6 on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Glenwood Springs took a bye week and sits at No. 14 in 3A. Roaring Fork fell 48-14 at Cedaredge on Friday to move to 3-5 and 1-3 in the 1A Western Slope. They close the season with a home game against North Fork on Friday.
The Aspen High cross-country team took its second consecutive girls regional championship and sent its boys to state for the first time since 2018 at a regional meet in Fraser on Friday.
Courtesy of Aspen High School
Friday was a big day in Fraser for the Skiers, clinching their second straight girls regional cross-country title and sending the boys side to state for the first time in six years.
Senior Julia Diaz took second place individually with a 21-minute, 9.6-second run through the 5K race. She was 49 seconds behind regional champion Effie Fletcher, a sophomore out of Coal Ridge. Aspen sophomore Annabelle Case took fourth at regionals with a time of 21:50.6. Senior Ela Stevenson took 13th, senior Fiona Benvenuto took 15th and freshman Kate Goldfarb took 19th to round out Aspen’s scorers. As a team, Aspen scored 53 points, 11 ahead of second-place Coal Ridge.
Basalt took third place on the girls side with senior Isabella Moon taking seventh, junior Addison Raymond taking eighth and junior Caroline Cole taking 10th, making the Longhorns the only team with three finishers in the top 10.
On the boys side, junior Towler Scott was the individual regional champ with a time of 18:02.1, 16 seconds ahead of second place. Basalt finished sixth as a team.
Aspen, anchored by sophomore Jack Diaz’s third place, finished fourth as a team. Fellow sophomore Dominic DiMaria took 20th, sophomore Lochlan Marsh took 29th, freshman William Goldfarb took 30th and sophomore Vlad Loboda took 33rd to give the Skiers 109 points.
In 4A, Glenwood Springs finished 11th on both the girls and boys sides. Seniors Quinn Waaler (63rd) and Finn Long (43rd) led the way for the Demons.
The state championship is on Saturday at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.
A 2-1 final week has Roaring Fork entering the state playoffs as the No. 5 seed and 3A Western Slope League champions for the second year in a row. The Rams topped Vail Mountain on Thursday 1-0 to officially go undefeated in league play, at 6-0-1. They then closed the regular season with a 5-0 win over Colorado Rocky Mountain School on Friday.
Being within the top eight teams means that Roaring Fork will host two home games with a first-round win. They’re likely to face off with No. 28 Rocky Mountain Prep SMART in the first round.
Basalt at No. 26 and Aspen at No. 32 are likely in the tournament as well and will travel to higher seeds. The bracket is set to be released on Monday.
In 4A, No. 15 Glenwood Springs is slated for a home first-round contest, with Montrose slated at No. 18 as the likely opponent (Glenwood won the regular season matchup between the two 5-3 on Oct. 5). The Demons went 7-5-3 overall and 3-2-1 in the WSL, good for second place. They went 1-0-2 in the last week, with a 1-0 win over rival Eagle Valley on Thursday to close league play.
First round games are generally set for Wednesday for 3A teams and Thursday for 4A teams.
Glenwood Springs leads local teams in seeding, ranked No. 16 in 4A entering the final week of the season. They travel to Battle Mountain on Tuesday to wrap up league play before an end-of-season tournament on Friday and Saturday.
Aspen is ranked No. 29 in 3A at 11-10 and second in the WSL with a 7-2 record. They went 2-1 last week with wins against valley rivals Roaring Fork and Basalt. The Skiers close their season on Saturday, hosting Moffat County.
Roaring Fork is on the outside of the playoff picture at No. 41 with a 9-11 overall record and 4-5 in league play, with no score reported from their scheduled Friday contest at Cedaredge. They close the regular season hosting North Fork on Tuesday.
Basalt is No. 52 in 3A at 3-11 and 3-6 in league play. They play at Grand Junction on Tuesday, Grand Valley on Thursday and in a tournament at Rangeview on Saturday.