BATTLE MOUNTAIN - The Lowry High School junior varsity football team will be hard-pressed to repeat its start of a season ago, but after a strong defensive performance its opening game, the Buckaroos are sitting at 1-0.
Lowry, who held its first eight opponents scoreless last year, allowed just one first down to Battle Mountain on Friday night, in a 46-0 victory over the Division III school. The Longhorns' first down came when its punter was roughed at the goal line by the Buckaroo defense.
"It was the first game and we made a lot of mistakes," said LHS head coach John Brooks. "We had a lot of penalties and had trouble at times getting kids in the right position. We will have to fix that. It didn't hurt us in this game but when we see a better opponent it will and will cost us. We will have to fix those problems quickly with Truckee coming up on Saturday."
Lowry scored on all three of its possessions in the first quarter, starting the game off with a 61-yard drive. The running game of Thomas Schwartz and Kelvin Meza moved the ball down the field, and the Buckaroos capped off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Christian Gray to Kyle Tarr.
After forcing Battle Mountain to go three-and-out on its initial drive, it took Lowry just two plays to find the end zone once again. Gray connected with Colin Doyle on a 41-yard pass, and on the next play Gray ran for a 2-yard touchdown run and 13-0 lead with 5:18 left in the first quarter.
Schwartz intercepted a Battle Mountain pass on the Longhorns' next possession and helped Lowry increase its lead to 20-0 four minutes later on a 3-yard run.
"Battle Mountain hurt itself quite a bit and we were able to take advantage of that," Brooks said. "I like the way we started and the way we played defense."
Pinned back near their own goal line, the Longhorns picked up their only first down, when their punter was roughed. Battle Mountain couldn't keep the drive going and punted three plays later. With the ball back, Lowry marched down the field and after a long run by Schwartz, Cody Mecham gave the Buckaroos a 27-0 advantage, after scoring on a 4-yard run with nine minutes left in the first half.
"Thomas ran the ball hard for us," said the coach. "I was happy with all of our running backs. "Our offensive line opened up some holes for them."
Lowry had the ball twice more in the second quarter, but had one drive end on downs and the other stalled when time ran out on the clock.
Three third-quarter miscues by Battle Mountain led to 19 points by Lowry in a little over five minutes. The Longhorns fumbled on thier second play of its first possession and paid for the mistake on the next play, as Gray hit Doyle for a 32-yard touchdown pass.
"I was really pleased with the way Christian played," added the coach. "He threw the ball well and has come along well. It was nice to get Colin in at quarterback too. He had never taken a snap before."
A bad snap on a punt by Battle Mountain gave Lowry a short field to work with and the Buckaroos quickly scored, this time on a 3-yard run by Meza, which increased the lead to 39-0. Another bad snap on a punt put Lowry at the 6-yard line and one play later, Gray scampered in for the score and a 46-0 advantage with 5:26 left in the third quarter.
From there the game was played with a running clock due to the NIAA 45-point mercy rule.
Lowry is on the road for a second straight week and opens Division I-A play Saturday at Truckee at 11 a.m. The Buckaroos beat the Wolverines 33-6 last year in Winnemucca.
"It is a game that we always look forward to playing," Brooks said. "We have to play mistake-free ball. It gets real tough next week and I have always had respect for Truckee. They run a good program up there."
[[In-content Ad]]
