Homecoming. Bitter rivals. Playoff positioning at stake.
All three of those statements were true as the Lowry High School football team hosted Elko on Friday night in a crucial match-up in the Division I-A North.
The Indians did not play the gracious guest, leaving Winnemucca with a 21-0 victory and all but securing the No. 2 spot for the league playoffs. It is the second year in a row that Elko has beaten Lowry in the regular season. The Buckaroos beat the Indians in the first round of the playoffs last November. Lowry will need help if they were to play the Indians again in the playoffs this season.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game," said LHS coach Tim Billingsley. "We got away from what we normally do and never got anything going offensively. We thought we could run the ball up the middle. We had some success. Every time we got something going, we turned the ball over or got called for a penalty."
Each team traded punts on their first two possessions and Lowry was making progress on a drive to the 45-yard line, but a holding penalty helped slow down the drive. Just two plays after the flag, Lowry threw an interception and Elko was given excellent field position.
The Indians attempted to go for the touchdown with a long pass on the first play, but it was incomplete. The duo of Jacob Conklin and Jason Wilson moved the ball inside the Lowry 5-yard line and L.A. Jones finished off the drive with a 2-yard run and a 7-0 lead with 3:03 left in the first quarter.
The Buckaroos moved into Elko territory for the first in the first half on a catch by Garrett Naveran, but Naveran was hurt on the play. The senior stayed in the game for one more play, but missed the rest of the game. He suffered a shoulder injury and is thought to be out for the remainder of the season.
The Buckaroos made one of many defensive stands midway through the second quarter, stopping Elko on a fourth-and-one play. Lowry was step up in good field position at the Elko 33-yard line and the Buckaroos were looking to score on the big play right off the bat. Christian Gray stepped back to throw, but receiver Omar Guerrero fell down and the pass was intercepted, stopping any scoring chance.
Elko took a 7-0 lead into halftime, but it was the Lowry defense that was the story once again in the third quarter. The Buckaroos stopped the Indians on down on the initial drive of the third quarter.
Lowry went three-and-out on its first possession, giving the ball right back to Elko. The Indians chewed up most of the clock in the third quarter from there. Elko began a drive in its own territory at he 24-yard line, but quickly moved to the Lowry side of the field on a 48-yard pass frpm Alex Puentes to Nate Klekas.
Elko moved inside the Lowry 5-yard line and had first and goal from the 4-yard line. The Indians moved the ball to inside the 1-yard line, but failed on the next three plays as the Buckaroo defense stood its ground.
"Our defense played great all night," said the coach. "That goal-line stand is one the best since I have been coach. We played on the Elko side of the field all night and put our defense in tough spots all night."
It nearly turned to disaster for Lowry, whop fumbled on the first play of the fourth quarter. It appeared Elko had a safety on the play, but the Buckaroos kept the ball, inside the 1-yard line.
Lowry was forced to punt and Elko took over at the Lowry 20-yard line. The Indians needed just one play to extend the lead to 14-0 as Conklin connected with Nick Smiley for a 20-yard touchdown.
The Buckaroos did not cross midfield in the second half and the Indians added a final touchdown with 22 seconds to play on a 13-yard run by Wilson.
"We never got the offense going," Billingsley said. "Losing Garrett early in the game hurt us. We just need to regroup from here and carry on. We felt good down 7-0 at the half, we just need to move the ball."
Lowry plays its home finale on Friday against Sparks at 7 p.m. The Railroaders are winless on the season.
"Everything is must win for us now," Billingsley said. "We have to take care of Sparks then go on the road for the final two weeks."[[In-content Ad]]
