This isn’t the Buckaroos of old but they’re slowly getting back there.
After spending many years in the top of the league, Lowry quickly fell to the bottom echelon of the Northern 3A but the Buckaroos have shown this year that a couple breaks could have altered the season dramatically.
“They’re an improved team from last year,” Fallon coach Brooke Hill said. “They’re a couple plays away from being a team in the playoffs. They’re right there.”
After seeing its six-game winning streak snap against Spring Creek last week, Fallon (6-2) travels to Lowry (1-7) on Thursday for the regular-season finale. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and the game can be found on KTUU 99.5 with Larry Barker and Randy Beeghly on the call.
The Greenwave clinched a home playoff game two weeks ago after beating Sparks but Fallon can still finish as high as second after Fernley came back in a thrilling win over Truckee last week to win its first league title in 20 years. Fallon can finish no worse than fourth but will need Elko to upset Spring Creek to finish second. A win over Lowry puts Fallon in third regardless because Spring Creek comes out ahead in a two-way tie with Fallon or three-way tie with Fallon and Truckee.
Although the Buckaroos have only one win this year — 42-6 over Dayton — they have lost four games by 13 points or less. Lowry lost to Wooster by three points, Elko by four, Sparks by 11 and South Tahoe by 13.
Lowry’s led by a three-headed rushing attack in senior Victor Rosas (523 yards, 69 carries, six touchdowns), freshman Anthony Peterson (410 yards, 65 carries, three touchdowns) and junior Brendan Domire (324 yards, 56 carries, one touchdown). Domire has passed for 597 yards on 47 of 103 for six touchdowns, as well.
But neither Fallon nor Lowry has much time to get ready for the final week with games being played one day early due to the state holiday.
“We have a quick turnaround. We don’t have much time to sit and sulk about it,” Hill said. “(Mistakes) are correctable things. We talked about what we need to fix.”
Lowry runs a similar scheme to Spring Creek, which helps Fallon get another crack at defending the run-first offensive approach. The Spartans gashed the Fallon defense in the first half, including the first play of the game going for a touchdown. The second half, though, was a different story as Fallon outscored Spring Creek by two touchdowns.
“We get an opponent to fix it right away,” Hill said.