Five costly turnovers doomed the Fernley High School football team last Friday, overshadowing a resilient defensive effort in a narrow 19-16 loss to South Tahoe.
With the help of those five Fernley turnovers, South Tahoe’s defense held the Vaqueros to 165 total yards, limiting Fernley to just 30 total offensive plays, compared to South Tahoe’s 60, allowing the Vikings to control the clock and keep the Fernley offense sidelined.
The missteps started on the first offensive play of the game, when South Tahoe’s Max McLean intercepted a pass at his own 3-yard line.
That seemed harmless enough two plays later, when Isaid Solis tackled Eli Letton in the end zone for a safety to put the Vaqueros up 2-0.
Two possessions later, quarterback Elijah Devold ran 32 yards for a touchdown with 5:55 left in the first quarter, giving the Vaqueros a 9-0 lead.
South Tahoe turned Fernley’s second turnover, a fumble at its own 37-yard line, into a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jonah Benavidez to Spencer Chen with 1:25 left in the second quarter.
Another fumble gave the Vikings the ball right back on the Fernley 11-yard line, but a delay of game penalty put the Vikings behind the chains and the Vaqueros were able to get a stop on fourth down to preserve their lead.
Letton’s 5-yard touchdown run with 4:00 left in the third quarter gave the Vikings their first lead at 12-9. Pictured above: Fernley linebacker Isaid Solis deflects a South Tahoe pass during the Vaqueros game against South Tahoe last Friday.
Fernley fumbled and went three-and-out on its next two possessions, but the defense came up big both times with third-down sacks. When Jayden Esparza followed up a 47-yard pass from Eli Devold to Jayse Jones by breaking free for a 24-yard touchdown to put Fernley back on top 16-12 with 8:28 left in the game, it seemed the Vaqueros might weather the storm.
Then, after yet another defensive stop, the Vaqueros got the ball back at their own 19-yard line with about 6:30 left in the game, following a South Tahoe punt.
But the runover bug bit again. A fumble gave the Vikings the ball at the Fernley 20-yard line, and on 4th-and-15, Benavidez connected with Karter Mapes for thew winning touchdown with 4:30 left in the game.
The loss drops the Vaqueros to 2-3 overall, but more importantly 1-2 and in a tie with Dayton for sixth place in the Northern 3A. Vaqueros face a tough challenge as they try to bounce back this week, traveling to Spring Creek, where they have lost in their last four trips. They beat the Spartans 38-14 at home last year.
Spring Creek is 3-1 overall, 1-1 in the Northern 3A, with a 58-0 win over Sparks and a 35-18 loss to Truckee last week.
Pictured below: Fernley quarterback Elijah Devold throws a pass during the Vaqueros game against South Tahoe last Friday.
All photos by John Baker
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