By Kiley Diesner, reporting intern
The Railroaders fell 30-0 to Elko on Friday night in their home opener. It was a huge contrast to the team’s 48-0 win over Dayton in the previous week.
Elko scored twice in the first quarter, once in the second, another in the third and a final time in the fourth quarter along with a field goal. Elko senior quarterback Alex Puentes ran for two touchdowns and threw another one. The team’s final touchdown was scored on a 3-yard run by Nick Smiley.
“Defensively we just started off slow;” Sparks head coach Rob Kittrell said. “You just can’t put yourself in a 21-0 hole.”
Sparks quarterback Sylis Sanchez combined with junior Van Patten multiple times throughout the night, but the two didn’t manage to put points on the board. Van Patten had 12 carries for 65 yards.
“Against a good defense like Elko’s we just aren’t explosive enough to keep pace with them,” Kittrell said. “We just dug ourselves a hole and couldn’t get out.”
Sparks (1-2, 1-2) hosts Lovelock next Friday. Elko (2-0, 2-0) travels to Fernley.
“We’re just going to get back to work and get after it,” Kittrell said.
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