Maybe this spring football thing isn’t all that bad after all.
The Lowry High School football team showed on Saturday it could score in a number of ways in its 63-27 win over Dayton on the Dust Devils’ home field.
The Buckaroos scored at will on offense and special teams against a Dust Devil team looking to rebuild their program.
Lowry raced out to a 27-8 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
The Buckaroos drove just 50 yards on their opening drive to lead 7-0, two minutes into the game on a 4-yard run by Anthony Peterson. Braden Hammargren added the extra point, as the sophomore would be busy on the day.
Dayton drove inside the Lowry 35-yard line on its initial drive of the day, but saw it end on downs.
Lowry quickly answered three minutes later, capping off a 68-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Caden Ricci to Jordan Bills. The Buckaroos led 13-0 after the missed extra point.
The Dust Devils went nowhere on their next drive and the Buckaroos made them pay, as Peterson took a punt back to end zone for a 41-yard touchdown and a 20-0 advantage with four minutes left in the first quarter.
It was the second special teams touchdown in as many weeks for Peterson, who ran a kickoff back in the opener against Elko.
Dayton bounced right back and trimmed the deficit to 20-8 on acrobatic 28-yard pass play from Eloy Sandval to Ethan Callan.
The Dust Devil momentum was short-lived, as Giovanni Sapien took the ensuing kickoff back 85 yards for a Buckaroo score and a 27-8 lead.
Early in the second quarter after Lowry turned the ball over, Buckaroo senior Sam Roth stooped a Dayton scoring opportunity with an interception in the end zone.
Lowry quickly countered with an 80-yard drive, as Ricci connected with Anthony Gildone for a 33-yard touchdown and a 35-8 lead after the 2-point conversion with six minutes to go in the first half.
With just six minutes to go in the first half, there was still time for three more touchdowns by the two squads.
After the Lowry touchdown, Callan countered with a special teams score for Dayton on an 85-yard kickoff return.
That cut the leas to 35-14, but Lowry scored on its next offensive play on a 48-yard pass to Bills.
Roth ended the Dust Devils’ next drive with his second interception of the day, which led to a Peterson touchdown run with less than a minute left in the half. Lowry eventually took a 49-14 lead into the break.
With a running clock in place for the second half, Dayton took the opening drive of the third quarter and scored on a 26-yard pass from Sandval to Isiah Powell.
However, Dayton made the mistake of kicking deep once again to Sapien, who returned the kick 90 yards for another Buckaroo touchdown and a 56-21 lead.
The big plays continued to flow, as Sandval and Callan connected for an 85-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
Lowry capped off the scoring with 11 minutes left in the game on a 13-yard run by Hammargren.
Lowry is back home Saturday to host Fernley at 3 p.m. Fernley, the reigning 3A state champion, beat Elko 32-13 this past Saturday in Silver Springs.
