By DAVE BELCHER
The Progress
Both of the two favorites were beaten in the 3A Northern Region Semifinals last week.
Truckee beat Elko 21-14. The Indians had thrashed the Wolverines 43-11 earlier in the season.
On the other side of the bracket, Churchill County had beaten Spring Creek 49-19 as well.
But last week, Spring Creek jumped out to a 21-0 lead before the Greenwave got warmed up. Eventually Churchill County woke up and was able to answer with three touchdowns of their own. But with 1:56 to play, after the third Churchill touchdown, they missed the extra point kick. That was all it took to give the Spartans the win and a trip to Las Vegas for the state semifinals.
Spring Creek will play SLAM, the top seed from the south. SLAM has three losses on the season including one to the “second-seeded” and undefeated Moapa Valley Pirates. Go figure that one out!
In the other northern playoff game, Truckee scored twice in the first quarter and led and once in the second. Elko scored in the first and second quarters.
The Wolverines will have home team advantage against the Pirates this weekend. They have beaten the Pirates in the two teams’ last five meetings with four of them in the state championship game.
The winners of these games will play in the state championship game the following week.
