What looked to be promising start for the Lowry High School football team on Friday night at Jerry Tobin Field in Winnemucca turned into the first loss of the season for the Buckaroos.
Lowry held a 14-7 lead in the second quarter over Elko, only to see the rival Indians score the final 26 points of the night to win 33-14 and drop the Buckaroos to 4-1 on the season.
“We came out and did some good things offensively in the first half but we were just flat in the second half,” said LHS coach Taua Cabatbat. “We are still looking for our mojo we had on defense for the first three weeks of the season. We have given up too many points in the last two weeks."
The Buckaroos began the night in impressive way, driving 75 yards on the initial drive of the night, capped off by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Joseph Vankuiken to Braden Hammargren for a 7-0 lead.
Lowry’s stepped up midway through the opening quarter, forcing Elko to turn the ball over on downs at the Buckaroo 10-yard line.
Backed up deep in its own territory, the Buckaroos picked up one first down, but had punt shortly afterward.
The Indians took advantage of the excellent field position and scored on the first play they had the ball on a 51-yard run by Eli Finlayson to tie the game at 7-7.
Lowry chewed up a good portion of the clock after getting the ball back, taking off more than seven minutes on its next drive in the quick first half.
Jessie Jeronimo began the drive with along run and receptions by Hammargren and Jordan Bills marched Lowry inside Elko territory.
After a delay of game penalty and some confusion on offense, the drive appeared to stall out. Hammargren converted a 27-yard field goal, but after an Indian penalty the points came off the board and the Buckaroos went for it on fourth down at the 5-yard line.
The gamble paid off as Jeronimo scampered in from five yards out to put Lowry up 14-7 with 6:10 left in the second quarter.
Just as Lowry took time off the clock, Elko repaid the favor and took all the remaining time off the clock in the first half with an 85-yard drive, which ended on an 8-yard pass play from Justus Nielsen to Ayden Whiting. The drive tied the game at 14 at halftime.
Elko looked poised go in front for the first time on the night, moving the ball down the field on the first possession of the third quarter, only to see Lowry’s Marcus Montes end the drive with an interception of Nielsen in the end zone.
However, the Buckaroos gave the ball back on the next play with a fumble and the Indians put points back on the scoreboard one play later on a 14-yard pass from Nielsen to Alex Apodaca to take a 21-14 lead with 8:37 left in the third quarter.
The Buckaroos were driving late in the third quarter and were deep in Indians’ territory, but a holding call negated a first down inside Elko’s 25-yard line and a couple plays later Lowry was called for an intentional grounding penalty that stopped the drive.
Elko drove back down the field and capped off a 52-yard drive with a 2-yard run by Finlayson to lead 26-14 after the missed extra point.
The Buckaroos next drive ended on downs and the Indians put the game out of reach, as Nielsen threw his third touchdown of the night, connecting with Whiting for 11 yards with six minutes left to play.
Lowry is scheduled to play at Dayton on Friday at 7 p.m. Dayton’s game with Churchill County was canceled this past Friday.
The Buckaroos play their final regular season home game on Thursday, Oct. 7, against Fernley. That will also be Homecoming week for Lowry.
“We have to go back to the drawing board on Monday and see what we can do,” Cabatbat said. “It’s going to be a competition to see who wants to play. It’s time to buckle down and get serious. We need to win some games. We let one get away today that we could have won. At the end of the day, we all need to get better and that will start Monday. It’s not the end of the world, it’s one loss we have some games still to play.”
