Trevor Kruger finds the end zone for the Tigers on Friday night against Galena.
RENO — When quarterback Blake Menzel scored on a four-yard run with 5:30 to play in the first half, the Carson Senators had momentum in their Sierra League matchup at Bishop Manogue.
Over the course of the next 11 minutes of game time — spanning the second and third quarters — the Miners would score 28 unanswered points en route to a 48-16 win Friday night.
Carson (1-6 and 0-2 in Sierra League) scored first on a Jackson Kalicki 23-yard field goal with 7:36 to play in the first quarter.
Manogue missed a field goal on its first possession, but would take a 6-3 lead with five seconds to play in the first quarter when Drew Scolari connected with Colby Crisp on a 15-yard TD pass. The PAT was blocked. The Miners would go up 13-3 with 10:22 to play in the opening half on 10-yard run by Dontell Jackson. The Senators would answer using a balanced attack before Menzel would score cutting the lead to 13-9. The PAT was blocked.
That’s when trouble started for Carson. The Miners would get a long kickoff return which would lead to a 20-yard run by Ezekial Lee to make it 20-9.
“I just told the kids it was a really weird game,” coach Blair Roman said. “I felt like we had a chance to be in this game and for whatever reason we couldn’t maintain anything.”
After Carson was forced to punt, Scolari hit Jackson on a 53-yard scoring pass to give the Miners a 27-9 lead as the teams headed into halftime as the rain started to fall.
“There were some nice moments, the second half it just got away from us, which is disappointing to see,” Roman said.
Manogue would receive the second half kickoff and march 65 yards for a 34-9 lead with 9:41 to play in the third.
Menzel would throw an interception that would lead to 13-yard pass play and a 41-9 lead for the Miners.
On the ensuing possession, Menzel would throw an interception that was returned 45 yards by Jacob Romero giving the Miners a 48-9 lead with 6:08 to play in the third quarter.
Carson’s Jeremy Heaton would recover a Manogue fumble in the fourth quarter and Menzel would connect with Chance Smith for a touchdown for the final score.
“Blake played well at times in the first half, that was good to see,” Roman said about the backup quarterback who started in place of an injured Johnny Laplante.
Roman also credited Gilbert Vazquez-Polanco with some nice running.
“There’s positive to build off, it is just one of those seasons where we just can’t catch a break,” Roman said. “Give credit to the kids, they come back every Monday ready to go. We will do the same thing this week.”
Carson hosts Sierra League-leading Damonte Ranch for a 7 p.m. Friday homecoming contest.
Douglas 44, Galena 35
With 5 minutes to go in the third quarter, Galena looked to be in control against Douglas on Friday.
That’s why they play four 12-minute quarters.
The Tigers, behind the arm of Colton Weidner, stormed back for a 44-35 Sierra League Homecoming win over Galena.
Weidner connected with Cameron Swain on a 53-yard pass to cut the lead to 28-17 with 4:28 to play in the third.
Weidner would connect with Isaiah Geilenfeldt on a 17-yard pass to cut the lead to 28-23 with 10:31 to play. The Grizzlies would fumble and the Tigers would take the lead.
Weidner hit Trevor Kruger on a 37-yard screen pass to give Douglas a 30-28 lead. Geilenfeldt would find the end zone again with 5:30 to play in the game as Douglas went up 37-28 on the sophomore receiver’s catch from Weidner.
Galena cut the lead to 37-35 with 2:45 to play but the Tigers recovered the onside kick. Kruger would add a 53-yard run to seal the win for the Tigers.
Chris Flores would get the Tigers on the board with a 20-yard field goal in the second quarter. He would later throw a 7-yard TD pass to Swain to cut Galena’s lead to 14-10 with 2:12 to go in the second quarter.
Douglas improves to 3-2 and 1-1 in league on the season. The Tigers host Bishop Manogue at 7 p.m. Friday.