It wasn’t as pretty as week one was, but the Lowry High School football team rallied from a slow start on Friday night to beat Galena 29-13 on Jerry Tobin Field in Winnemucca.
The game was originally set to be played in Reno, but smoky conditions forced the move to Winnemucca. The Buckaroos improved to 2-0 on the season, with both victories over Northern 5A schools.
“It wasn’t our best performance tonight,” said LHS coach Taua Cabatbat. “The boys dealt with some adversity and came out in the second half and got the job done.”
Lowry took off just two minutes off the clock on the initial drive of the contest, seeing it stall out inside in Galena territory. The Grizzlies quickly countered with a quick passing game that drove that down the field on a 51-yard drive. Galena kept the drive going by completing a pass on fourth and nine. On the next play, Anthony Miller scored from two yards out to give the Grizzlies a 7-0 lead with 7:20 left in the first quarter.
“They came out and punched us in the mouth,” Cabatbat said. “It was a little bit of a hangover game for us. Galena came ready to play and we were flat. We still have a lot of work to do.”
Lowry saw another drive end with no points, holding the ball for six minutes, before seeing the drive end. A field goal by Braden Hammargren from the right hash mark was missed. The kick was wide of the uprights, but Hammargren would play a big role later in the game.
After seeing Galena march down the field on its first drive, the Lowry defense made its adjustments, quickly getting the ball back. Lowry made sure it got on the scoreboard this time, on the first play of the second quarter, Joseph Vankuiken connected with Giovani Sapien for a 56-yard reception and two plays later, Hammargren tied the game at 7-7 with a 4-yard run.
Those were the final points of the opening half, as both offense’s had trouble moving the ball in the final 11 minutes of the second quarter. The teams combined for four punts and both squads turned the ball over on downs.
The Buckaroos forced the Grizzlies to punt on their first possession of the second and half. That would be the story for Galena for the rest of the night, until late in the fourth quarter.
Lowry would score the next four times it had the ball in its hands. Hammargren caught a pass for 31 yards on the Buckaroos’ next drive, but it would stall out. This time, Hammargren connect on a 30-yard field goal to give Lowry its first lead of the night at 10-7.
Galena fumbled to plays later when it got the ball back and Lowry quickly answered with another score, with Vankuiken connecting with Sapien for a 20-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone. The extra point was missed and the Buckaroos led 16-7 with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
Galena turned the ball over on its next drive, as Marcus Montes intercepted a pass and Lowry was in excellent field after Montes return, which was aided by a personal foul, face mask penalty. Two plays later, Hammargren broke free for a 40-yard touchdown and a 23-7 Lowry lead with 48 seconds left in the third quarter.
Galena was forced to punt again on its next drive that turned into a 45-yard punt return for a score by Sapien. It was Sapien’s second special teams’ touchdown of the year. The senior returned a kickoff in the opening game of the season against Douglas.
Galena added the final score of the night with 2:33 left to play on a 15-yard run by Hunter Mee. The Grizzlies were inside the Buckaroo’s 5-yard line in the final seconds of the game, only to see the defense keep the Grizzlies out of the end zone.
Lowry is back at home on Friday to play Wooster at 7 p.m.
“We got to come back Monday and get after it,” Cabatbat said. “We are never satisfied and always want to improve. We are in our 3A schedule now and just taking it a game at a time. We aren’t worried about anything past Wooster. We have to get ready to play them Friday.”
