MCDERMITT — The McDermitt High School football team closed out its season on a cold and rainy afternoon on the Oregon border this past Saturday in McDermitt.
The Bulldogs, playing with eight guys, scored a season-high 27 points, but cane up short in a 73-27 loss to Independence out of Elko. McDermitt finished the year 1-4 in the Eastern 1A and 1-6 overall.
“I thought it was the best game we played all year,” said MHS coach Richard Egan. “We had some mistakes and turnovers that hurt us. Independence had a couple big guys that were running the ball and they were hard to stop. I am proud of the boys for how they played all year. We basically played with eight or nine guys all year. For the circumstances we were under I thought we did a good job.”
Independence grabbed a 6-0 advantage, scoring on its opening drive of the day on a 3-yard run. After a series of turnovers, the Colts got the ball back midway through the first quarter and added to the lead on a 13-yard run.
McDermitt cut the deficit to 14-8 late in the first quarter on the strength of the running game by Diego Navarro and Duane Horse. Horse capped the drive with a 1-yard run.
The momentum was short-lived as Independence ran the ensuing kickoff back 77 yards to extend the margin back to 22-8 with 2:25 left in the first quarter.
After forcing a McDermitt punt, Independence was back in the end zone 11 seconds into the second quarter on a 2-yard run that made the score 28-8. The Colts took advantage off a Bulldog turnover midway through the second quarter and scored on a 34-yard run to increase the lead to 36-8.
McDermitt remained in the game, scoring with three seconds left in the first half on a 29-yard pass from Horse to Navarro. That late touchdown made the score 36-12 at halftime.
The squads traded touchdowns early in the third quarter with Independence scoring first on a 25-yard run. Less than two minutes later and backed up to their own end zone, Horse completed a 77-yard pass to Navarro that cut the gap to 44-21.
It took Independence mere seconds to strike back, returning the ensuing kick back 65 yards, Two plays later, the Colts scored on a 10-yard run to make the score 52-21.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Horse and Navarro hooked up for the third time on the day, this time from 11 yards away. That turned out to be the final points of the day for McDermitt.
Independence ran the following kickoff back 65 yards for a touchdown and scored twice more in the final 2:14, including the last play of the contest to account for the final score.
"The guys never quit," Egan said. "Hopefully, we can get some more guys out next year and have a bigger team."
