BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Carson quarterback Mitch Hammond does a back flip into the endzone during the first quarter of their game against Douglas on Thursday.
For two quarters Thursday it was the Carson Senators and Douglas Tigers going toe to toe.
In the last two it was the Tigers doing all the damage as they hopped on the back of senior Brock Peterson, who tore apart the Carson defense for a personal best - and possibly a school record - 372 yards on the way to a 48-20 victory Thursday at Carson High School.
The Tigers and Senators combined for 899 yards of offense - 572-327 in favor of Douglas - in the regular season finale for both teams, but Douglas outscored Carson 34-8 in the second half.
"I owe it all to my line - I wouldn't have anything without them," said Peterson, who rushed for 230 yards after the intermission and scored three touchdowns. "Those guys are amazing. We are getting better every single game. I feel like we can really go far."
"He gets better every week," Douglas coach Mike Rippee said of Peterson. "He's strong and he gets after it. It was a group effort and a great performance from the offensive line."
Carson finished its season 2-5 in the Sierra League and 2-8 overall, while the Tigers (6-1, 8-2) move on to the first round of the Northern 4A regional playoffs, where they will meet the High Desert League's No. 3 seed Reed, which beat Spanish Springs 45-23.
With Carson mixing and matching seniors Chris McBroom and Mitch Hammond at quarterback, running back and wide receiver in the first quarter, the Senators caught the Tigers flat-footed.
The Senators went up 6-0 on a 4-yard run by Hammond with 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Carson had an opportunity to go up earlier in the quarter and had a first-and-goal at the 8. McBroom scooted in for an apparent touchdown, but it was called back on a holding penalty.
On the next play, McBroom - who threw three interceptions - was picked off by Sean Peralta.
Two plays later Carson senior linebacker Andy Hook fell on a Peterson fumble and the Senators were subsequently able to capitalize on it with Hammond's flip into the end zone.
Douglas came back on the next drive and Peterson capped a five-play, 65-yard drive with a 44-yard run around the right tackle.
The Senators would rally six plays later when Hammond, in a role reversal, made an over-the-shoulder catch on a pass from McBroom and took it in for the 55-yard score with 7:24 remaining.
Carson couldn't hold on to its 12-7 lead long, however, and on the next series Douglas junior quarterback Tim Rudnick found Brandon Lowrance for a 44-yard score and a 14-12 lead at halftime.
Rudnick was 7-of-15 for 163 yards passing and had two touchdowns, including an 82-yard hookup with Zack McFadden for a 28-12 lead with 7:57 to go in the third.
McBroom had 225 yards on 15-of-26 passing with two touchdowns.
Douglas scored three touchdowns in the third to put the game out of reach. Lowrance added a 1-yard score 1:26 into the quarter and Peterson later scored on a 49-yard run.
"We pride ourselves on being a second-half team," said Peterson, who added a 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. "We proved that tonight."
Carson scored its last touchdown when McBroom hit Nick Peternell on a 21-yard bullet into the end zone. McBroom found Blake Davidson for the 2-point conversion, but Douglas still led 41-20 with 6:57 remaining in the game.
"I knew our kids would come out and play hard," said Carson coach Shane Quilling. "Our defense played their butts off in the first half. We slowed them down. We had two stupid penalties on the first drive. We had a shot to get in the end zone. We should've been up after the first half. Penalties will kill you every time."
Junior Niko Barker rounded out the scoring with an 8-yard run with 2:55 to go.
"It's a whole new season," Rippee said. "It's a one-game season. We need to get better at certain things. We made some mistakes. We've got to knock down big plays. We can't allow 50-yard touchdown passes.
"We made some mental errors that we have to deal with. But you don't have to teach (the Tigers) to play hard. We get a home playoff game. The other side (the High Desert League) - one through four - is real strong. It's up to us to turn it around."
The Senators will now have a whole offseason to turn things around.
"Douglas showed why they are 8-2 and a solid team," Quilling said. "We showed why we are not. It's a matter of not being consistent. We looked great at times and did some really good things.
"Our kids went hard and went to the bitter end. I'm real proud of them and our coaches, who did a great job. We just weren't able to put it together. We had the potential for a few more wins, but to win games you have to be consistent. But we had a great bunch of kids who worked hard."
The Tigers meet the Raiders 7 p.m. next Friday at Douglas High School.