MINDEN - Josh Carter ran for 250 yards and Doug Brooks rushed for two touchdowns as the Carson High football team beat rival Douglas 19-7 on Thursday at Keith Roman Field.
With the win, the Senators now advance to the 4A playoffs after missing them last season, when Carson finished 1-5 in league and 2-7 overall. They will face unbeaten and top-ranked McQueen in the first round on Friday. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Reno. The Lancers gained the No. 1 seed from the High Desert League with their 62-0 win over Galena on Thursday. McQueen beat Carson 52-7 in the season-opener for both teams. But Senator coach Bob Bateman, though, doesn't even want to think about their rematch with McQueen just yet.
"I don't even care about that right now," Bateman said. "I just told the kids to enjoy and savor this. But I'll watch the film and get to work tomorrow morning."
Douglas went up 7-0 just three minutes before half-time when quarterback Jared Kenison hooked up with Gabe Hatchett for a 47-yard touchdown pass. Hatchett finished with five catches for 90 yards but didn't catch a pass in the second half. Kenison completed 9-of-16 passes for 124 yards.
Carson rushed for 128 yards in the first half but had only four first downs. And except for the last drive of the half, the Senators didn't get any closer than the Douglas 49. Then with three seconds left in the half and Carson on the Douglas 40, quarterback Marques Giron tried a last-ditch effort for the end zone but his pass was intercepted by the Tigers Jordan Ovard.
Carson and Douglas combined for six fumbles and two interceptions on a night when the rain poured throughout the entire game.
"We wanted to pound them and then loosen them up to throw the ball," Bateman. "The turnovers hurts us, but we stuck with the game plan and it worked out."
On Carson's first drive of the second half, they ran six plays and went 53 yards to the Douglas 3. Then on second down, Giron threw a quick out to Rob Handley, who caught the ball but then dropped it and Douglas regained possession on their own 5-yard line.
"We didn't call that play," Bateman said. "The kids called that one, I wanted to pound it up the middle, as we were doing the whole drive."
But Carson got the ball back on their own 26 after Douglas was forced to punt. Brooks took off for 49 yards but a holding penalty brought negated Carson's biggest play of the night.
"Kids are kids," Bateman said. "I've already told them that they are guys making $5 million a year who make the same mistakes they do. But they got it done in the end."
Down 7-0 after three quarters, Carson scored on their first three possessions of the fourth quarter. A minute into the fourth, Brooks broke away for a 29-yard TD run that brought the Senators to within 7-6. Then after the Tigers punt went only 19 yards, Carson took over at the Douglas 40. Carter rushed for 26 yards and Giron scrambled for 10 more before Brooks punched in a 4-yard TD run that gave Carson its first lead at 12-7. On their next drive, Carson drove 72 yards, capped off by Carter's 22-yard TD run that gave the Senators their final lead at 19-7.
"We were moving the ball on them early in the game and we knew that it was only just a matter of time before we'd get the ball into the end zone," Carter said. "But you have to give credit to the line because they opened all the holes up for me."
Carson now has a 36-13-3 overall lead in the series with Douglas. More importantly it sends the Senators into the playoffs with a win after losing to South Tahoe and Hug in back-to-back weeks.
"No doubt, you need momentum going into the playoffs," Bateman said.