FERNLEY - Throughout the season a team has to deal with adversity in one way or another.
The Lowry High School varsity football team experienced exactly that on a trip to Fernley on Thursday night that resulted in a 29-19 victory over the Vaqueros. The Buckaroos overcame nearly 200 yards in penalties and an interception with no time left on the clock in the first half and still came away with the victory.
"It was an interesting night all the way around," said LHS head coach Tim Billingsley. "We haven't had those (penalty) calls all year and we get them in a game like this. We threw that interception at the end of the half and I probably should not have made that call. We played good, except for the penalties and we were excited to get a win. Fernley is a quality team and a win on the road is always good."
Lowry's quick-strike offense didn't take long to get going, scoring the first time they touched the ball on the initial drive of the game. Brandon Okuma started the possession with a 7-yard run. After a Fernley offside penalty, Lowry quarterback Calvin Connors rolled out to his left on a fourth and four play and found a wide open Robert Stepper for a 41-yard touchdown pass and 7-0 lead with 8:24 to go in the first quarter.
Fernley was able to move the ball the first time it touched and moved inside the Lowry 30-yard line, but the Buckaroo defense stood its ground and held the Vaquero on downs.
Behind the legs of Beau Billingsley and Okuma, Lowry drove the ball down the field once again, but as it was with Fernley, the Buckaroos saw their drive end on downs at the Vaquero 34-yard line.
Fernley answered with a drive that took up the last 44 seconds of the first quarter and two minutes of the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7 on a 19-yard run by quarterback Skylar Williams. Williams was playing for the first time in two weeks after suffering an injury against Truckee.
In the past few years, Lowry has been known as a run-only team, but the Buckaroos showed their improved passing game, driving 59 yards in three plays and 71 seconds to regain the advantage.
Connors began the drive with a 39-yard reception toss and Billingsley caught an 11-yard pass from Connors to make the score 14-7 with 8:52 left in the first half.
Fernley went three-and-out on its next possession and Lowry quickly capitalized, driving 55 yards in a little over two minutes. Once again, the Buckaroos went to the air with passes to Tytus Millikan and Josh Shaver to put Lowry inside the Fernley 10-yard line. Connors did the rest with a 9-yard pass to Billingsley for a 22-7 lead with 4:54 left in the half.
The Buckaroos appeared to be back in business after an interception by Ivan Castellanos set up the Buckaroos at the Vaqueros' 37-yard line with 2:34 left in the first half.
However, the last two minutes of the first half proved to be a wild one. Lowry recorded four penalties in a row that accounted for 50 yards. The Buckaroos eventually moved back inside the Vaquero 20-yard line and on third down, Lowry fumbled giving the ball to Fernley at the 14-yard line.
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The Vaqueros could not do anything on offense and instead of kicking a short field goal, they went for it on fourth down and were held by the Buckaroo defense with 50 seconds left in the first half.
Inside its own 20-yard line, Lowry handed the ball off on the first play of the drive, but after a time out, a pass by Connors was intercepted by Tanner German, who returned the ball for a 25-yard interception return with no time left on the clock. German appeared to be short of the end zone but was awarded the score and Lowry led 22-13 at halftime.
The one way to keep Lowry off the scoreboard is to keep the ball away from them. Fernley did just that in the third quarter, holding the ball for the first eight minutes. The Vaqueros converted on fourth down and took advantage of two Buckaroo penalties to drive inside the Lowry 15-yard line. However, Fernley fumbled at the 10-yard line, giving the ball back to the Buckaroos.
"That was a big play for us," Billingsley said. "Our defense has played well all year and they got us a couple of big stops tonight."
Lowry ran just three plays in the third quarter, going three-and-out after taking over after the fumble. Fernley held on to the ball for more than 10 minutes in the quarter.
"Teams have tried to do that to us all year," said the coach. "They just run the ball and take time off the clock. If we don't have the ball we can't score."
After going 9-for-11 passing in the first half for 181 yards and three touchdowns and the one interception, the Buckaroos threw the ball just once in the second half and that pass was incomplete.
After forcing Fernley to punt early in the fourth quarter, Lowry added to its lead with a 13-yard run by Connors with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter to make the score 29-13.
Aided by three more Buckaroo penalties, the Vaqueros used up six minutes to drive 85 yards and scored on 2-yard run by Kevin Montgomery to cut the deficit to 29-19 with 1:54 to play after the missed 2-point conversion.
Fernley recovered the ensuing on-side kick and drove inside the Lowry 20-yard line, when the Buckaroo defense stepped up once again and held the Vaqueros on downs to win the game.
Lowry (7-1 Division I-A North, 8-1 overall) has clinched a playoff spot, but its seeding will be determined after its game on Friday night against Churchill County in Fallon. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The Greenwave are undefeated on the season. Lowry beat Churchill County twice last year, including a matchup in the first round of the playoffs.
"We are going to Fallon and see what we can do," Billingsley said. "For us the playoffs start now. Not many are giving us a chance to win, but we are going to go out and give it our best shot."
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