BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal The Carson Senator defense unit gang tackles Reno's Brennan Caverhill during the first quarter of their game in Reno on Friday.
The Reno Huskies avenged a season-ending 32-22 loss to the Carson Senators with a 28-7 victory on Foster Field Friday at Reno High School. The Huskies also outgained the Senators 409-174 in total yardage and sacked Carson quarterback Mitch Hammond 10 times along the way to improving to 1-0 in the Sierra League, 2-2 overall, as well as putting their Oct. 26 loss behind them.
"I don't know if revenge is the word...when they beat us at the end of last year, it gave us motivation," said sixth-year Reno coach Dan Avansino. "We didn't end our year right. They did (by making the playoffs with the win)."
The Senators managed to keep the game close until Reno running back Thomas Wood took it in from 47 yards out to give the Huskies a 28-7 advantage with 6 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the game. But once again, Carson, now 0-1 in league, 0-4 overall, had to play from behind early in the game.
Reno senior quarterback Glenn Wallace, who was 11-of-19 passing, for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception, put the Huskies up 7-0 when he hit Wes Munson for a 15-yard TD at the 5:44 mark of the first quarter.
Reno running back Brennan Caverhill had a team-high 61 yards on 12 carries, including a touchdown from 2 yards out for a 14-0 lead with 1:23 to go in the first half. He added a 7-yard score to give his team a 21-7 lead with 7:45 remaining in the third quarter.
The Huskies outrushed the Senators 239-127.
"They came out and ran the 4-4 with their (defensive) ends coming down hard," Quilling said of the Huskies' defensive alignment. "
They ran that on us two years ago. They did some great things on defense."Our speed option was great, but they have a good team. They're just as good as McQueen (who beat Reno 5-0 and Carson 44-12). They're a solid team."
Senior Will Holbert led the Senators with 91 yards on 16 carries and capped off an eight-play Carson drive with a 1-yard plunge to draw Carson within a touchdown at 14-7, with 10 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Huskies put themselves in a bad position after going up 14-0 on Caverhill's first TD, when they unsuccessfully tried an on-side kick.
As it did against McQueen, Carson milked most of the third quarter with an 18-play drive after the Huskies went up 21-7 on Caverhill's second TD-run on Reno's first possession of the half.
But Carson's long drive (7 minutes, 41 seconds), which began at Senators 20, ended when Reno defensive end Mike Kahan sacked Hammond on a fourth-and-11 on the Huskies 18.
"Our biggest concern was stopping their option," Avansino said of the Senators. "We thought that's what they're best at. Their offensive line is their strength this year. They did better up front against McQueen than we did."
Avansino said the plan was to take away the middle of the field and force Hammond to either run around the end or pitch the ball, a plan the Huskies executed well. Reno held Hammond to 7 yards on 19 carries and to 6-of-11 passing for 47 yards.
"(Hammond) could've avoided half of those (10) sacks by throwing away the ball," Quilling said. "Whether it was him not throwing away the ball or us not protecting him, we've got to be able to throw the ball."
The Carson defense gave its offense one more shot to get back in the game after junior Nick Peternell mishandled a Reno punt.
The Huskies recovered the ball on Carson's 39 and in two plays drove down to the 6. But Carson linebacker Jeff Butler intercepted a tipped Wallace pass in the end zone.
Reno, however, held Carson to a three-and-out and scored for the final time on its subsequent drive.
"We had too many penalties (nine, unofficially) and an end-zone interception," Avansino said. "If we can eliminate those things, we'll be OK. Both leagues (the Sierra League and High Desert League) are going to be dogfights."
"We get South Tahoe next week for a chance to go 1-1 (in league)," Quilling said. "We can still get to the playoffs and win league - we still play everybody. We have to do better as coaches and our players have to stop feeling sorry for themselves. They came out and played hard. We did some good things, buy not good enough to win."