Losing streak over: Carson defeats Douglas for title

Seven long years of misery is over for the Carson High Senators.

The Senators ended their lengthy football drought at the hands of archrival Douglas with a dominating 34-6 win before an overflow crowd of more than 7,000 Thursday night at Carson.

Carson and Douglas finished with identical 6-1 records in Sierra League play, but the Senators get the No. 1 seed based on the head-to-head win over the Tigers. Both Carson and Douglas will host first-round playoff games next Friday.

It's Carson's first title since 1998 and its first Sierra League championship in school history.

"It's the best feeling in the world," said Carson two-way star Luke Carter. "We've talked about this game ever since last year (48-20 loss). We worked so hard for this."

Carson will face North Valleys at 7 p.m. next Friday at home in the first round of the Northern 4A regional playoffs.

This one wasn't even close, as the Senators' speed gave the Tigers' defense problems all night. The offensive line of Danny Gall, Trevor Goodale, Will Flores, Matt Cooper and Justin Barlow paved the way for 316 rushing yards and 442 yards of total offense. Carson only had to punt twice the entire game.

The defense was just as impressive, pitching a shutout until the final 1:05 when Zach Williams threw an 11-yard pass to Danny King as the Carson coaching staff was doused with Gatorade in celebration of the impending win.

Douglas managed just 235 yards total offense and running back Johnny Pollack was limited to 45 yards on 15 carries.

"I had confidence coming into the game that we had the potential to get a big win," said Carson coach Blair Roman, who went from 3-7 last year to 8-2 this season. "We absolutely played our best football of the year, and we've played some pretty good football. We executed in every phase of the game.

"We do a lot with our running game. There have been games where we haven't had to throw the ball. We showed tonight we could throw the ball."

Blake Plattsmier went 8-for-11 passing for 126 yards and a score. He also rushed 13 times for 67 yards and a 16-yard TD.

Douglas coach Mike Rippee was obviously disappointed with his team's performance.

"We got outplayed," Rippee said. "Team speed really worried me, and it just ate us alive. It was a key factor."

The Tigers' defense had no answer for Dylan Sawyers, who had first-half TD runs of 26- and

6-yards, and also caught a 48-yard screen pass from Plattsmier in the third quarter.

It was Sawyers who got the fireworks started on the Senators' opening drive, capping a 79-yard scoring drive with a 26-yard run to make it 6-0 with 8:12 left.

Sawyers (14 carries, 117 yards) made it 13-0 with 7:39 left in the half, capping an impressive 90-yard scoring drive with a 6-yard run. The sophomore, who has 22 touchdowns thus far, accounted for 58 yards on the drive.

"He's awful good," Rippee said. "His speed is great and he has great instincts. We didn't make plays when we had to. We were very conscious of him, but when we'd try to stop him on the perimeter he'd cut back and we just couldn't stop him."

Carson took advantage of a 25-yard shanked punt to get excellent field position at its own 46. Mark Sinnott (94 yards rushing) scored four plays later from the 1 for a 20-0 lead. The key play was a 32-yard pass from Plattsmier to Ean Witter for a first down at the Douglas 15. Sawyers gained 14 on the next play, setting the stage for Sinnott.

Carson scored on its first two possessions of the second half, as Plattsmier scrambled for a 16-yard TD for a 27-0 lead with 7:13 left. Plattsmier rolled left on the play, reversed his field and outran the Tigers' defense.

"They had it covered well," Plattsmier said. "It was supposed to be a pass to Luke (Carter)."

The Tigers ran the ball on their first three plays after the score, which may have surprised some but not Roman.

"That's their bread and butter," he said. "He (Pollack) is one heck of a player. He made a couple of plays when I thought we had him."

Douglas was forced to punt, and once again the Senators had good field position at their own 40.

Three Sinnott runs produced a first down at the Tigers' 48. Plattsmier drifted back and dropped a screen pass to Sawyers, who took it the distance.

"All week long we worked on getting wider on that play," Sawyers said. "I got a good block and all I needed to do is run."

"The screen pass we had three people in position and he outran all three of them," Rippee said.