WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School varsity football team is quickly becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of its sport this season. Despite just one loss on the year, the Buckaroos have garnered little respect from around the state.
Three-time defending Division I-A state champion Truckee, along with Churchill County and Fernley garnered much of the headlines this year. The Vaqueros ended the Wolverines' 41-game winning streak earlier in the season, while Truckee stopped Churchill County's undefeated season a week ago in Fallon.
Meanwhile, Lowry disposed of Fernley 41-14 last week. The Buckaroos had their sights set on hosting a home playoff game for the second consecutive year, when the Greenwave made their way to Winnemucca this past Thursday night.
Lowry will be back at home for the first round of the playoffs, after beating Churchill County 21-7. It will be a familiar matchup as the two teams meet again Friday in Winnemucca.
"We just did things when we had to do them," said LHS head coach Tim Billingsley. "We just did what we have done for much of the year. We didn't run that many plays again. I thought we did a good job defensively. That was a pretty good football team we played and I thought we handled ourselves well."
After losing to Truckee in the second week of the year, Lowry reeled off eight straight wins and finished the regular season at 9-1 overall and 8-1 in the Division I-A North. In that eight-game stretch, the Buckaroos have outscored their opponents 372-67.
"I am proud of the kids," Billingsley said. "Since that Truckee loss we have reeled off eight in a row. We are playing good football right now. We haven't got much respect this year. "
In addition, Lowry has allowed just 14 points to two teams and held six other opponents to seven points or less in the last eight games.
The Buckaroos set the tone early on the night with Calvin Connors running the opening kickoff back 95 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
"That is always a good way to start, especially in a game like this," Billingsley said. "He is a guy that can take it to the house every time he touches the ball. It was a great start."
After forcing Churchill County to go three-and-out on its first possession, Lowry converted two fourth down conversions on its initial drive of the game and was inside the Greenwave 5-yard line. The Buckaroos hurt themselves from there, with a procedure penalty on fourth and goal, which eventually resulted in a missed field goal.
Churchill County gave the ball right back to Lowry with a fumble, putting the Buckaroos in excellent field position. Lowry needed to drive just 38 yards to increase its lead to 13-0. On the second play of the second quarter, Connors connected with a wide open Nate Eldodt from five yards out in the corner of the end zone.
The Greenwave offense sputtered for much of the first half due to dropped passes by their wide receivers. However, quarterback Morgan Dirickson put the Churchill County offense into motion with a passing game that resulted in a 9-yard touchdown pass to Beau Marshall with 8:12 left in the first half.
Dropped passes continued to plague the Greenwave late in the second quarter, which would have kept a drive going.
Turnovers were the undoing for Churchill County in the second half, beginning with a fumble by Skye Barton after a catch and long run. Lowry's Daniel Pollock punched the ball out of Barton's hand and the ball went into the arms of Connors. That was one of the final plays for Barton as he left the game with a shoulder injury.
The Buckaroos took advantage of the mistake and were back in the end zone on a 39-yard screen pass from Connors to Brandon Okuma. Lowry completed the 2-point conversion for the 21-7 advantage.
"We wanted to get that other touchdown in and we ran some clock from there," Billingsley said. "We got pretty basic on them."
It went from bad to worse for Churchill County when it fumbled the ensuing kickoff. Lowry had a chance to put the game out of reach but missed a 40-yard field goal as the drive stalled out.
Dirickson had the Greenwave offense moving once again late in the fourth quarter, but the junior was intercepted by Lowry's Tanner Lecumberry in the end zone and he ran the ball back to the Churchill County 26-yard line.
The Buckaroos ran the ball three times to take time off the clock, giving the ball back to the Greenwave with 91 seconds to play. Churchill County gave the ball right back on the next play with a fumble, handing the victory to Lowry.
The Buckaroos and Greenwave are back on the field for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday night.
"We start a new season this week," Billingsley said. "It always tough to play the same team two weeks in a row. We expect another tough game. I am sure they are thinking they are not done."
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