There will be no four-game losing streak this year for the Fernley High football team.
The Vaqueros emphatically made sure of that as they routed North Tahoe 28-0 on Saturday. One year after a four-game losing streak effectively took them out of the Northern 3A playoffs and one week after losing to Lowry, Fernley (4-1) looked like a playoff team in its win at North Tahoe.
The win also set up another showdown on Friday for Fernley at home against another Northern 3A power in Truckee.
"That was huge," Fernley coach Dave Hart said. "We didn't want to get in that streak like we did last year. We're pretty excited about playing well up there."
Matt Lambeth completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Adam Schwab and Tim Hines kicked the extra point to give Fernley a 7-0 lead. Schwab later intercepted a pass and then came the turning point of the game.
Lambeth interecepted a pass with less than a minute left in the half and returned it to the North Tahoe 3-yard line to set up Danny Maguin's touchdown run, giving the Vaqueros a 13-0 halftime lead. "That was a pretty big momentum swing," Hart said.
In the second half, Maguin scored on a 10-yard run and Lambeth hit Schwab for the two-pointer. Maguin scored his third touchdown on a 56-yard run and Hines converted the extra point to finish the scoring.
While Lambeth threw for just 30 yards, Fernley ran for 243 yards, led by Maguin, who gained 126 yards on 21 carries. Lambeth added 57 yards on six carries.
Hart said his team's shutout was keyed by the play of Kyle Davis, Maguin and Travis Colbet at linebacker and all-state defensive end James Barnes.
