WINNEMUCCA - It was not the homecoming game the Lowry High School freshmen football team was expecting. Elko used a ball-control offense, including a 10-minute drive in the second half, to beat the Buckaroos 34-14 on Thursday night in Winnemucca.
"It wasn't our best game, but the kids went out there and played hard," said LHS coach Greg Scott. "It was a lack of fundamentals and that's on me as the coach. As the head coach, it's my job to make sure we do the fundamentals and we did not do that tonight. We will get back to practice and rectify that situation."
Lowry (2-3 overall, 2-1 Division I-A North) had two drives end on downs and two more on punts in the first half, before scoring late in the first half.
Elko grabbed a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 34-yard run by RJ Bejarano. The Indians needed just two plays to score on drive after Lowry turned the ball over on downs.
With the aid of an offside penalty against the Buckaroos, the Indians capped off a 70-yard drive in the second quarter, with a 15-yard run by quarterback Alex Puentes. Elko missed the extra point and led 13-0 with 7:10 left in the second quarter.
After struggling to move the ball for much of the first half, Lowry found itself back in the game just three minutes later. Omar Guerrero completed a 46-yard pass to Nate Nelson and later connected with Nelson on a 15-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 13-7.
Elko quickly answered but a 67-yard run by Bejarano was called back on a penalty. The Indians continued the drive and was back in the end zone with 31 seconds left in the half on a 6-yard run by Dustin Baum, for a 21-7 advantage.
Elko pulled further ahead with touchdowns on two of its first three drives of the second half. Bejarano capped off a short 26-yard drive in the third quarter and Puentes ran in a score with 2:33 left in the game, after the Indians held the ball for more than 10 minutes on the drive. Both of Elko's touchdowns came after Lowry turned the ball over on downs.
The Buckaroos finished off the night, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Dominic Diaz. On the play prior to the score, Cameron Okuma threw a half-back pass to Nelson, putting Lowry at the 1-yard line.
"It was good for us to get that score," Scott said. "Okuma threw the ball well on the play and I thought Dominic did a good job for us."
Lowry returns to the field on Friday, when it travels to Sparks for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff with the Railroaders.
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