With its long-time rival in town, the Lowry High School football team could not have asked for a better start than it got for its Homecoming game on Friday night against Elko.
After forcing the Indians to punt on its first possession, the Buckaroos needed just two plays to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Quarterback Ren Mattson connected with Brady Lange in the middle of the field and Lange made his way through the Indian defense for the 78-yard touchdown.
That proved to be the only points for Lowry, as Elko rallied for a 33-6 win and dropped the Buckaroos to 1-6 on the season.
“It was the start we were looking for,” said LHS coach Taua Cabatbat. “A couple mistakes hurt us. We came in knowing that was a team that we could play with and have a chance at beating. We were not able to sustain anything in the final three quarters."
Lowry held off an Elko drive late in the first quarter that reached inside the Buckaroos 20-yard line. However, Lowry stalled out on its next drive and were forced to punt. The Indians took advantage of good field position and drove 46 yards to tie the game at 6-6 on the first play of the second quarter as Emmit Johnson scored on a 5-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.
Elko stepped up the defense on Lowry’s next possession with sack of Mattson and got the ball back in excellent field position after a short punt. On the next play, Eric Klekas rolled to the right side of the field and threw the ball across thew field to Angelo Jones, who found his way through the Lowry defense for a 28-yard touchdown at a 12-6 advantage for the Indians with 9:42 left in the first half.
Late in the first half, the Buckaroos took over at midfield after an Indians fumble and were poised to score. Runs by Jed Teichert and Victor Rosas took Lowry inside the 20-yard line. Mattson connected with Lange on a 14-yard pass on fourth down to put Lowry at the 1-yard line.
However, the Buckaroos were stopped on four plays near the goal line and turned the ball back over to the Indians.
“That was big right there,” said Cabatbat. “We had a chance to go in front and just could not convert. That was a big momentum shift in the game.”
Lowry suffered another sack at the beginning of the third quarter that set up Elko in good field position. The Indians capped off a 46-yard drive with a 1-yard run by Gavin Byington and led 20-8.
The Buckaroos were moving the ball once again with runs from Rosas and Darrin Nelson, but the turnover bug bit Lowry, giving the ball back to the Indians. Elko could not convert the miscue, but did moments later after an interception.
Early in the fourth quarter, Elko surprised Lowry with a fake punt, but the Indians hurt themselves with penalties and were forced to punt the ball back to Lowry.
The Buckaroos’ offense stalled out on their next drive and Elko added to its lead with a 14-yard run by Byington. It went from bad worse Lowry, who fumbled on their next possession and Clay Linquist recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
Lowry closes out its home portion of the schedule on Friday, taking on Sparks at 7 p.m. The Buckaroo seniors will be honored before the contest.
