PREP ROUNDUP: Tigers overcome slow start to beat Hug

Nevada Appeal Staff Report

MINDEN - With the score tied 14-14 at halftime, Douglas football coach Mike Rippee saw things very simply.

"I didn't yell or scream or shout, it was very matter-of-fact," Rippee said. "This is going to come to whichever group of seniors wants it more."

The Tigers came up with a clear answer.

Douglas scored three third-quarter touchdowns and rode its increasingly-strong defense to take a 34-21 win over Hug Friday night.

The Tigers improved to 2-4, 2-3 in league play while Hug remained winless on the season.

Coming off an emotional overtime loss to Carson last week, Douglas was hoping to avoid an early letdown.

Hug took quick control of the momentum though, as Jaevis Johnson broke free on the opening kickoff for a 98-yard touchdown return.

Douglas answered later in the first quarter as Zack Williams capped a nine-play, 51-yard drive with a 1-yard keeper to tie the game at 7.

An errant snap that sailed over punter Steven Werth's head, though, set Hug up in Tiger territory and the Hawks capitalized three plays later when quarterback Dionte Blanton connected with Johnson for a 41-yard touchdown and the 14-7 lead.

Three plays into the Tigers' next drive, the Hawks intercepted a Williams screen pass, setting the offense up at the Tiger 26.

Fortunately, the Tiger defense was up to the task, forcing the Hawks to lose 18 yards on the following two plays and removing the scoring threat.

The defense held Hug to minus-14 rushing yards in the first half, didn't allow a sustained drive from the Hawks (more than four plays) until the fourth quarter and didn't give up a first down (excluding the 41-yard touchdown pass) until the final play of the third quarter.

Douglas tied the game at 14 with less than three minutes left in the first half when sophomore running back Conner Peterson scored from the seven.

Peterson also got things going for the Tigers to start the second half, breaking free for a 61-yard run on the first play from scrimmage.

The Tigers scored five plays later when Williams hit tight end Trevor Shaffer for an 11-yard touchdown.

Douglas controlled the line of scrimmage on both side of the ball for most of the game, but really emphasized the point to start the third quarter. The Tigers ran the ball on 16 out of 20 plays in the quarter, gaining 149 yards.

Following Shaffer's score, Douglas ran it all five plays of their next drive, which culminated with a 4-yard run from Ryen Ake. Ake tacked on a 14-yard touchdown run later in the quarter to cap the

Tigers' scoring on the evening. Ake led the team with 30 carries for 164 yards and two touchdowns while Peterson had 10 carries for 102 yards (marking the second time the sophomore has eclipsed the century mark this season) and Williams carried six times for 38 yards.

DAMONTE JV'S CRUSH CARSON

Damonte Ranch overpowered Carson 47-14 in a Northern 4A junior varsity game Friday night.

Mike Bass scored both Carson touchdowns on a 43-yard run and he also caught a TD pass from quarterback Mike Nolan. Bass rushed for 86 yards, while Nolan ran for 68 and passed for 73.

Damonte ran for 411 yards on the ground.

GOLF

CARSON GOLFERS WIN

RENO - Carson's red-hot golf team rolled to another tournament victory Friday at Rosewood Lakes.

Megan Justice had a career-low 87 and Ali Vondrak a career-low 89 to spark the Senators to a 352 score, 11 shots better than Bishop Manogue. Elayna Shine had an 86 for Carson, while Whitney Nash and Lindsay Burroughs had a 90 and 91, respectively. Halee Ackerman had a 108.

Carson will now participate in the regionals next Monday and Tuesday at Red Hawk in Sparks. The tournament starts at 11:30 a.m. both days.

VOLLEYBALL

YERINGTON SWEEPS LIONS

Yerington cruised to a three-game sweep over Fallon on Friday. The Lions improved to 26-1 and 8-0 in league with the win. Yerington won 25-11, 25-18 and 25-19.

The Lions were led by Mackenna Lommori who had 17 kills, 12 assists, eight digs, three aces and two blocks. Maddie Hull-taylor contributed with eight kills, six digs, two aces and a block.

Brooke Aiazzi had 12 digs, three assists, two kills and an ace. Liz Rogers had 13 assists and nine digs. Alexandra Roberts added seven kills and 13 assists. Amber Veil added seven digs and an ace.

VIRGINIA CITY FALLS to MINERAL COUNTY

Mineral Co. swept Virginia City in three games on Friday. Mineral won 25-14, 25-22 and 25-20.

Leading the Muckers were: Corinna Obermayr with four kills; Jamie Poston with three kills, an ace; Lea Laney had three kills, three aces, five digs and four digs; Jill Dupre had two kills and two blocks; Denali Fickus had a kill, two aces and 10 assists.

Virginia City is 6-11 and 5-5 in league.

In JV action, the Muckers won 25-19, 13-25 and 16-14.

DAMONTE SWEEPS

CARSON

RENO - It was a day Carson would like to forget.

Sarah Lushina sprained an ankle in Wednesday's practice, setter Bailey Valente re-injured her back in Tuesday's win over Galena and setter Courtney Hack suffered a possible concussion in Thursday's pre-game warm-up.

Carson went out and got swept by Damonte Ranch 19-25, 20-25 and 21-25 in a Sierra League match Thursday night.

"Damonte came to play," Carson coach Justin Malley said. "We did not pass well for most of the match, and when we passed well, we didn't set. We played well in spurts and made runs. Unfortunately we followed that with periods where we stopped focusing long enough to allow Damonte to make bigger runs."

Jeanette Van Sickle led Carson with 15 kills, four digs and two blocks. Angela Augusta led the team in digs with 10 followed by Alyson Christl and Jazmyn Stokes each with eight. Elizabeth Bennet-Doran had 13 assists, three aces and seven digs.

DAYTON JV'S WIN

Dayton knocked off Silver Stage 25-11 and 25-12 Friday night in a non-league match.

Alyse Fletcher served up four aces and dished out two assists, while Heather Niemi had five aces, two kills and four assists. Taryn Schlacta contributed six aces and Ashley Hill had seven aces.

CROSS COUNTRY

BREITHAUPT LEADS DAYTON AT LOWRY

Katrina Breithaupt led Dayton at the Lowry meet on Friday.

The Dust Devils turned in their fastest times of the season. Breithaupt breezed through the 3.1 mile course in 20:40, good enough for third out of 57 girls.

Following Breithaupt were: Rhael Ransom, 26th at 23:46; Kaia Galloway 24:42; Sara Torgerson 25:24; Isabella Anderson 25:56 and Caitlin Crosby 26:03. Torgerson and Crosby improved their times significantly according to coach Shawn Anderson.

On the boys side, Skyler Rose (18:59) finished 30th out of 104 runners. He was followed by Aaron Elissa (20:52), Ben Woods (22:22) and Peter Scott (24:37).

Two JV runners also ran for the Dust Devils. Nica Scott beat her personal goal to run in under 30, coming in at 29:18. And William Fitch made significant improvement running in 32:42.

Dayton raced without homecoming candidates: Shanleigh Brethauer, Brenda Cid on the girls side and Brian Hagedorn. Ethan Galloway also didn't run for Dayton.