FERNLEY - Raise your hand if you saw that one coming. Maybe for the exception of fans in Fernley, not many hands were going up.
After opening with a 33-28 win over North Valleys, the Lowry High School football team was looking to start the Division I-A North season on a high note.
The Buckaroos did just that scoring on the second play from scrimmage on a 69-yard pass play from Christian Gray to Omar Guerrero last Friday night in Fernley. However, that turned out to be the lone highlight for Lowry as Fernley scored 41 unanswered points on its way to a 46-14 win. It is the worst regular season loss for the Buckaroos since a 62-8 loss to Lassen, Calif., in 2009.
"It came down to they were ready to play and we weren't," said LHS coach Tim Billingsley. "We had trouble for their option game and could not stop it. I think we were overconfident after the North Valleys win. We came out flat and Fernley is a good team. We have our work cut out for us and we need to get better. We didn't expect this from Fernley after watching them on film against Hug."
After Lowry scored its touchdown, Fernley needed just two plays from scrimmage to tie the game. Brian Reyes broke free for a 51-yard touchdown run. Three turnovers followed from there, when the Vaqueros turned a short punt into a quick scoring drive.
Fernley capped off a 38-yard drive, scoring on the second play of the second quarter on a 37-yard pass from Kevin Montgomery to Shane Kelso. Lowry looked poised to tie the game after Gray connected on a 52-yard pass to Garrett Naveran, which put the ball inside the 20-yard line. However, the drive ended on downs.
The momentum quickly shifted as Carlos McIntyre broke free for a 77-yard run on the next play to increase the lead to 21-7.
The Buckaroos stopped the Vaqueros the next time they had the ball with an interception at the 5-yard line. With Lowry backed up to its own end zone, it went from bad to worse as Gray was stripped of the ball and Fernley's Ivan Romero recovered the football in the end zone for a touchdown and a 31-7 lead.
Aided by a pass interference penalty, Lowry was driving toward the end of the half, but a Fernley interception stooped the drive. With 90 seconds to play in the half, the Vaqueros drove 71 yards and added six more points on a 49-yard pass from Montgomery to McIntyre with 16 seconds left in the half.
"We made mistakes on both sides of the ball and it snowballed from there," Billingsley said. "We had a couple of opportunities to score and couldn't.
Lowry recovered the kickoff to start the second half on an on-side kick and saw the drive continue after a late hit penalty on Gray by Fernley on fourth down. Later in the drive, Thomas Schwartz kept the possession going on a first down run on fourth and six. However, the drive ended on downs after a penalty.
Fernley drove back down the field and finished off a 79-yard drive with a 27-yard pass from Montgomery to Kelso to end the run of 41 consecutive points scored.
Lowry jumped back on the scoreboard on the second play of the fourth quarter on a 20-yard pass play from Gray to Kyle Tarr. Fernley closed out the scoring with a 20-yard run by Kyle Throckmorton late in the fourth quarter.
After two straight weeks on the road, Lowry makes its home debut on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Truckee. The Wolverines lost 28-6 to Churchill County on Saturday.
"It's still early in the season to where we can come back," Billingsley said. "I still believe in this team. We will get back to practice and regroup on Monday and get ready for Truckee. It will be nice to be on our home field."[[In-content Ad]]
