WINNEMUCCA - After being challenged by its coaching staff to take its play to the next level, the Lowry High School football team did exactly that on Friday night In Winnemucca.
The Buckaroos, who were celebrating their Senior Night, scored 53 points in the first half en route to a 60-6 victory over Spring Creek.
"We talked about picking up the energy and enthusiasm," said Lowry head coach Tim Billingsley. "The kids came out and played hard. When you are having fun, good things happen. We aren't a very excitable bunch. But as we get to these last couple of weeks of the season, hopefully we can light things up."
Lowry senior Calvin Connors started the night off with a long kickoff return, and three plays later Brandon Okuma scored on a 4-yard touchdown run, 90 seconds into the game.
Spring Creek went three-and-out on its first possession of the night and Lowry scored 71 seconds later on a 38-yard pass play from Connors to Beau Billingsley.
The Buckaroo defense earned the next 14 points of the game, as Troy Hardy intercepted Spring Creek quarterback Dillon Draper on the Spartans' next possession and returned it for a 60-yard touchdown.
Spring Creek fumbled a handful of plays later the next time it was on offense and Billingsley scooped up the loose ball for a 70-yard touchdown and a 28-0 lead with 3:23 left in the first quarter.
The Spartans provided one their better drives of the first half, moving the ball inside the Buckaroo 30-yard line before the drive stalled out.
On the next play, Connors broke free for a 72-yard touchdown run to extend the margin to 34-0 after the missed extra point. The Buckaroos ran just seven plays on offense in the first quarter on their way to scoring the 34 points.
"Spring Creek is down a little bit, but this is a momentum builder for us," Billingsley said. "We had some pretty awesome turnovers that we took advantage of. We told the kids to play fast and aggressive. We have the kids to do that and they were in the right place and made things happen."
It didn't get much better for the Spartans in the second quarter with two punts and another interception.
Lowry used a 15-yard run by Elijah Frei to extend the lead to 40-0 and Thomas Schwartz scored on a 13-yard run with 3:12 left in the second quarter to begin a running clock under the NIAA 45-point mercy rule.
"We didn't touch the ball much on offense again," added the coach. "We started out with some things we thought would work and our offensive line did a good job. We executed tonight and we have had troubles with at times this year. We got kids in the right spot and everything clicked tonight."
The final blow of the first half came with 51 seconds left in the first half, when Tanner Lecumberry intercepted Draper and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown and a 53-0 halftime lead.
Spring Creek fumbled on its initial drive of the third quarter, which led to a Lowry touchdown after a 5-yard quarterback sneak by Christian Gray.
The Spartans prevented the shutout with four minutes left in the game on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Draper to Payden Shaefer.
With the win, the Buckaroos clinched a playoff spot, improving to 6-1 in the Division I-A North and 7-1 overall. Lowry plays at Fernley next Thursday at 7 p.m.
"It was a big night for our seniors with all their parents here," Billingsley said. "All the kids got quite a bit of playing time. It was a great night for everyone."
The Buckaroos can finish anywhere from first to fourth in the Division I-A North, depending on the results in the final two weeks of the regular season. The top two seeds host the bottom two seeds in the first week of the playoffs.
"It gets serious for us in the next two weeks," Billingsley said. "We have our work cut our us. We want to keep playing for a few more weeks and that starts with Fernley on Thursday."[[In-content Ad]]
