WINNEMUCCA - One would have to go back to 1984, long before any player on the 2013 Lowry High School football team was thought of being born, when the Buckaroos last defeated Truckee on the field.
During those nearly 30 years there have been blow outs and heartbreaking losses to the California school. The Wolverines have won 11 Nevada state championships, since 1983, including the last four in Division I-A.
In certain areas of Nevada the Wolverines are not very well liked for the way they showed no mercy to fellow teams. Truckee would lead by 50 or 60 points and call timeouts late in contests to just have the opportunity to score more points.
Another fact people don't like is that Truckee is allowed to play for Nevada championships, when the NIAA granted them membership. The Wolverines claim they are too far away from other schools in California and would have to travel over the Sierra Nevada to play every week.
Truckee is not the only California school that plays in Nevada. That list includes North Tahoe (Tahoe City), South Tahoe (South Lake Tahoe), Coleville and Needles. Beaver Dam in Arizona is also a member of the NIAA.
Except for South Tahoe in certain sports, Truckee is the most scrutinized school of the bunch for their championships in football and soccer.
The Lowry football rivalry began in earnest in 1990, when the Wolverines traveled to Winnemucca for the AA (now Division I-A) state championship. The Buckaroos entered the game at 8-1 and Truckee was 8-2.
Now if you are a fan of AC/DC, you know the song "TNT" very well. Somehow the Wolverines had the song played over the sound system at Jerry Tobin Field on that November day in 1990. Now don't get me wrong, I like the song, unless it has to do something to do with Truckee.
That state title game was a defensive battle with Lowry leading 10-9 late in the game. The ending still lives in the lore of Buckaroo football. On Truckee's final drive of the game a pass was deflected by three all-state players near the end zone. The ball dropped to the ground, giving the Wolverines a chance to win the game.
Four plays later, Truckee freshman kicker Damien Fertitta, who had made and missed a field goal already, came on and booted a 27-yard field goal to give Truckee the victory. Fertitta was brought up to the varsity just two weeks earlier.
Lowry would look to avenge the loss to Truckee the following year as the Buckaroos made the trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains for the first game of the 1991 season. It would not be for Lowry, who lost 15-3.
The two teams played back in Winnemucca in 1992, with Truckee prevailing 20-14. However, the Buckaroos got the best of the Wolverines, reaching the state title game against Moapa Valley. The Pirates won that game 17-0. I was part of that team and I still think the scariest plane trip I have ever been on played a part in that game. Lowry has not been back to the state championship game since then. The Buckaroos have played in the last three state semifinal games, losing each time to Moapa Valley in Overton.
Since 1992, there were a number of lopsided matchups with the teams headed in different directions. There were times where Truckee would score 60 or more points without batting an eye.
The Buckaroos had made the last three meetings more interesting, but Wolverines still pulled out victories.
Enter the 2013 season, and the Wolverines come in as the four-time state champion. However, it's a rebuilt squad with a new coach playing in his first game of the season. Still, many were giving Truckee the benefit of the doubt because of the program it had built in the last 23 years.
Being around the team prior to the game, the Buckaroos wanted no more than to take down the champions. Before the meeting on Friday, Sept. 6, coach Tim Billingsley asked me to write down a score of what I thought the final would be. I scribbled down 48-13 and he did not want to see it until the game was over. Now that I look back on it, I didn't give the Buckaroo defense enough credit. The final score - 48-0 with a running clock in the fourth quarter. You have to go way back to find a team do what the Buckaroos did to Truckee.
Lowry decimated Truckee with 475 yards rushing and a stingy defense that held the Wolverines to less than 175 yards of total offense.
For those who were part of those losses in 1990, '91 and '92, the victory may be a bit of closure. For the 2013 players and coaches it's just the second win of the year and the season opener in the Division I-A. Lowry can enjoy this victory for a little while, but there are 11 weeks left in the season if they want to win their first ever state championship as Lowry High School.
Winnemucca Publishing sports editor Tony Erquiaga can be contacted at t.erquiaga@winnemuccapublishing.net.
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