WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School football team knew it had a challenge ahead of itself when it traveled to Overton on Saturday to play Moapa Valley.
The Buckaroos were facing the Pirates in the state semifinals for the third consecutive season. While the first two matchups were close battles, Lowry ran into a buzz saw this year, with Moapa Valley winning 43-0.
"We knew they were going to be tough," said LHS head coach Tim Billingsley. "They have some big boys on their team. Their running backs and linebackers were the best we saw all year. We couldn't get going offensively and gave them good field position the entire game."
Despite the loss, the Buckaroos (10-2) set a school record for wins on the season.
Moapa Valley (12-1) used a trick play the first time it had the ball as quarterback Josh Repp threw a lateral to Landon Willard, who threw a pass Sean McConnell for a 45-yard touchdown.
Connor Mortensen added an 8-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter and the Pirates converted the 2-point conversion to lead 14-0 at halftime.
"That first play took a lot out of us," Billingsley said. "We just got caught off guard with it. That was the last thing we were expecting."
McConnell scored on a 22-yard run on Moapa Valley's first possession of the third quarter and the Pirates were never threatened after that.
"We played on their half of the field the entire game," added the coach. "We could never get ourselves out of the hole we were in. We got beat by a better team. They were better than they were last year and they had quite bit coming back this season,"
Kasen Hughes had two touchdowns in the second half and Mortensen added his second touchdown of the day as well. In addition, the Pirates picked up a 28-yard field goal from Kris Postma.
Lowry's usually high-powered offense was held to just 100 yards on the day.
'"I told the kids - don't let this game define your season,'" Billingsley said. "We had a great season. It just happened that we got beat by a better team. We are going to miss some great seniors but we are one of the youngest teams in the state. We have a good chance to be back here again next year."
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