There was one thing on the mind of the Lowry High School football team as it traveled to Elko last Thursday for the opening round of the Northern 3A playoffs.
Redemption.
Lowry hosted Elko just a couple weeks earlier for its Homecoming game and was soundly defeated by the Indians 42-13.
It was a much different night for Lowry, who brought its A-game with them and delivered a crushing 41-13 blow to the Indians.
“In the homecoming loss to them our kids had a lot of distractions that week," said LHS coach Taua Cabatbat. "But, they were really focused for this game. We are a team that takes things personally, and the bottom line is that Elko came into our house and whipped our butt. We just wanted to do the same thing. Our boys came out and executed the game plan, in all facets of the game, and the end result speaks for it.”
The Bucks struck first with an Anthony Peterson 67-yard touchdown run only a minute and a half into the first quarter to make it 7-0.
Petersen was back in the lineup after suffering an injury in the second game of the year against Sparks.
After several changes of possession due to fumbles and punts, Lowry got on the board again with 6:29 left in the first half when Preston Snow ran it in from the 2-yard line.
Elko finally got on the board with a 90 yard punt return with 2:11 left before halftime for a 14-7 tally.
That was the only spark the Indians had in the half and finished with less than 30 yards of total offense in the first 24 minutes of play.
“Fortunately, the boys had a short memory after that long return and finished the game like it should have been,” Cabatbat noted.
Lowry looked poised to add to its lead in the third quarter, but saw the drive end on downs deep in Elko territory.
However, Lowry was back in business on offense moments later after an interception.
After an offensive pass interference penalty brought a touchdown back, on the next play, Dorsey Naveran hauled in a Brendan Domire 29-yard touchdown pass with 2:56 left in the third quarter putting the Buckaroos up 21-7.
Special teams came up big for Lowry later in the third quarter, as a blocked punt led to another score.
The rout was on when Snow scored on a 7-yard rushing touchdown with 46 seconds left in the third, making it 28-7.
Lowry then gambled and won when they recovered an onside kick. Snow’s hat trick was complete as he took it into the end zone again with 8:53 to play in the game, but Jace Mentaberry missed his only PAT of the night for a 34-7 Lowry advantage.
Another onside kick attempt was unsuccessful for the Buckaroos. But, they intercepted a stray Indian pass a few minutes later and Mentaberry took one to the house at 4:38 left in the fourth quarter. Mentaberry’s fifth PAT kick of the evening made it 41-7.
Elko managed a late touchdown against the Lowry reserves, but their extra point attempt failed, accounting for the final score of 41-13.
"We really executed well tonight, I feel like we are going to have good things going on in the future," Peterson said,
Asked about his injury earlier in the season
“I feel 100 percent again, it is going well," Peterson said. "If we pull it together next week in Truckee, we can win the game.”
Lowry had the same outcome in their last playoff win back in 2013, when Elko beat them in the regular season, but the Bucks prevailed in their playoff game against them.
That season Lowry finished with 10 wins but lost to Faith Lutheran in the state semifinals.
“I think our program has taken a great journey over the past couple of years, we have taken our lumps,” Cabatbat said. “These kids really deserve this, they bought in to everything that we expected of them and the end result is that we are going to Truckee next week. Truckee is a good, solid team that understands playoff football, but our group of coaches and kids are not going to lay down for anybody. We are going to come out swinging and weather the storm from there."
Fernley (6-3) hosted Spring Creek (6-3) in the other playoff game played Thursday and dispatched the visitors 33-13.
Churchill County (Fallon) (9-0), and Truckee (8-1) both had first round byes.
The Northern 3A semifinals will feature Truckee taking on Lowry at home on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The two teams played in Winnemucca on Sept. 14, with Truckee winning 27-10. The Wolverines led 12-10 at the end of the third quarter before pulling away late.
In the other match-up, Fernley travels to Fallon on Friday night.
A win in Truckee would send the Buckaroos to the state semifinals and a likely match-up with Moapa Valley.
Lowry and Moapa Valley played in the state semifinals in 2010, 2011 and 2012, with the Pirates winning all three games
Winnemucca Publishing Assistant Editor Tony Erquiaga, contributed to this story.
