The Lowry High School football squad held the maximum number of practices allowed by the NIAA last week, but Mother Nature bared her teeth repeatedly to challenge the Bucks efforts.
Practices were moved back and forth between the football field and the new gym in an attempt to get all the drills in somehow.
“We can only practice for one week in the spring," said LHS coach Taua Cabatbat. "So we will try and teach them the basics of how we run our practices, get them used to the tempo. Teach them a little bit about basic formations and base plays. We show the older guys some things that we are going to do different next year.”
Last season the Buckaroos finished 6-6 overall and 4-5 in league play.
They beat Elko in their house 41-13 in the first round of the NIAA playoffs, but another road trip to Truckee the next weekend ended Lowry’s season with a 42-6 loss.
Truckee went on to lose in the championship game against Churchill County (Fallon) 28-7.
“We have a few key returners next year," Cabatbat said. "Gratian (Dawson) on our O-line and outside linebacker, Chance (Huitt ) at quarterback and safety, Cole (Jones), Jace (Mentaberry) and our two big backs Anthony (Peterson) and Preston (Snow). These are all guys that we are going to call on to lead this team and get some wins next year.”
The Buckaroos travel to Pahrump to start the season on Friday. Aug. 23.
Northern 3A play begins at Sparks on Aug. 30.
Lowry’s first home game will be Sept. 6 when Spring Creek comes to town, and they will take another trip to Truckee Sept. 21.
The boys make a quick run home to host North Valleys on Sept. 27, followed by road trips to South Tahoe on Oct. 4 and Elko Oct. 18. The Buckaroos will finish off the regular season at home against Churchill County (Fallon) on Oct. 24.
“We had a pretty good year last year, but a lot of our veteran leaders left us," added the coach. "So every game is going to be difficult for us. If we prepare right and go out and compete I think anything is possible, we should be in the mix. We are going to take it one game at a time and see how it goes.”
