WINNEMUCCA - The frequent bus miles are quickly adding up for the Lowry High School varsity football team.
The Buckaroos made their second trip to the Lake Tahoe region in a three-week span and could be the tourist destination's best spokesperson right now.
The first trip didn't go well with a 27-7 loss to Truckee on Saturday, Sept. 1; however, the trek to South Tahoe on Friday, Sept. 14, paid off for Lowry with a 24-7 victory.
The Buckaroos (2-1 Division I-A, 3-1 overall) scored 77 points on the Vikings a year ago in Winnemucca, but struggled at times on offense this time around after the long bus trip.
"South Tahoe was a physical team and we came out flat again," said LHS head coach Tim Billingsley. "I don't know if you can blame the road trip. They came out and stopped our run game. We changed things up and started running inside. They had the corners shut down on us. We just eventually wore them out."
Taylor Martin put Lowry out in front 3-0 in the first quarter with a field goal, and the Buckaroos added a touchdown in the second period to lead 10-0 at halftime.
South Tahoe quarterback John Cefalu connected with Kyante Wilson from 15 yards in the third quarter to cut the Lowry deficit to three points at 10-7. The Buckaroos fumbled on its next possession, but the defense held from there and prevented the Vikings from scoring.
Lowry scored in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to go ahead 17-7 and added an additional seven points late in the game to secure the win.
"We had some mistakes that cost us," Billingsley said. "We dropped a couple of passes for touchdowns and fumbled twice. We also had eight penalties. Those are things we have to clean up in the next couple of weeks."
South Tahoe kept the Lowry running game at bay, with Okuma leading the way with 59 yards on 11 carries. Buckaroo quarterback Calvin Connors ran for 49 yards on five carries, and was 10-of-17 passing for 127 yards. Michal Arenas added 39 yards on the ground and Michael Billingsley and Beau Billingsley had 19 and 15 yards rushing, respectively.
Michael Billingsley led the Buckaroos with 41 receiving yards on three catches and Brandon Okuma and Stepper each caught two balls for 33 and 21 yards, respectively. Jesse Studebaker, Beau Billingsley and Arenas had one catch each.
Okuma, Beau Billingsley and Arenas each scored rushing touchdowns for the Buckaroos.
After playing three of its first four games on the road, Lowry returns home for two consecutive weeks beginning tonight against Dayton.
It is a crucial game for the Buckaroos, who are in the midst of the playoff hunt. The Dust Devils come into the game 1-2 in league play but run the dangerous double-wing offense. Churchill County, Truckee and Fernley are 3-0 in the Division I-A and Lowry is 2-1, along with Spring Creek. The top four teams advance to the state playoffs. Dayton is currently 1-2 in league play.
"Dayton is a hard team to prepare for," Billingsley said. "They run an offense that you don't see very often. We are going to have to be disciplined on defense."
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