WINNEMUCCA - The Spring Creek football team is well-known for its smash-mouth style of play, with a running game that comes right at you, while taking time off the clock.
The Lowry High School freshmen squad saw that firsthand on Thursday night as the Spartans paid a visit to Winnemucca. The Spartans' Mitch Owsley scored six touchdowns, with five of those on the ground.
"Spring Creek ran the same play just over, over and over and we couldn't stop it," said LHS head coach Brent Riemersma. "They blocked it perfectly. We knew it was coming, but the Owsley kid is pretty good. He hit the hole and was gone."
The Buckaroos put themselves behind the eight-ball early, misplaying the opening kickoff, which forced them to start at their own 7-yard line. Jed Teichert gave the Buckaroos a little breathing room on a first-down run, but Lowry had to punt three plays later.
Spring Creek quickly answered as Owsley scored on a 39-yard run on the Spartans' first play of the game to make the score 6-0 after the missed extra point.
Another misjudged kickoff put Lowry deep in its own territory once again, but the Buckaroos were able to move the ball this time.
Jackson Brown started off the drive with a 21-yard run, which was aided by a face mask penalty that put the ball near midfield. Teichert followed with a 24-yard pass to Joe Taylor and a 16-yard pass to Christian Collazo to put the ball at the Spring Creek 12-yard line.
The Buckaroos scored four plays later on a 5-yard run by Darrin Nelson to tie the game at 6-6 with 5:15 left in the first quarter.
Lowry got the ball right back on an onside kick and drove inside the Spring Creek 30-yard line before the possession ended on downs.
"We came back with a nice drive and had some momentum going," Riemersma said. "We had a chance to do something. The thing is we came out with no intensity. We came off our best win of the season and came out flat tonight. We are playing a rival and a good team and you should be up for a battle like that."
After getting the ball back, Owsley went back to work for the Spartans and he picked up a majority of the 65 yards on the drive, scoring on a 3-yard run with three minutes left in the first quarter to put Spring Creek up 12-6.
Lowry fumbled and went three-and-out on its next two possessions, which led to two more touchdown runs by Owsley. He scored on a 22-yard scamper after the fumble and he raced for 18 yards after the Spartans got the ball back after a punt.
After two more punts by the Buckaroos, the Spartans were back in the end zone with 70 seconds left in the first half. This time, Spring Creek went to the air to score, with Jon Jund connecting with Owsley on a 27-yard pass to put the Spartans up 34-6 at halftime.
"I am not a screamer and yeller, but I went into the locker room at halftime and it was dead quiet," added the coach. "I just wanted them to get fired up and make a play. We are supposed to be out here having fun. Yes, we work and want to win games."
Spring Creek drove 67 yards in the opening drive of the third quarter, with Owsley capping his night off with a 5-yard run for the final points of the night for the Spartans.
The Buckaroos cut into the deficit in the fourth quarter, as Guerrero hit Travis Hardy for a 1-yard touchdown to cut the margin to 40-12 and in the final minutes Guerrero scored on a 1-yard run.
The Buckaroos are working on a short week and travel to play Fernley on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Lowry closes out the season on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 5 p.m. at Fallon.[[In-content Ad]]
