Douglas High football walks through the handshake line at Vanden High School in Fairfield, California after falling to the Vikings, 32-10, Saturday night.
There were opportunities for Douglas High football to keep pace with Vanden Saturday night in a 32-10 loss to the 2021 CIF sectional champs.
The Tigers’ defense set up the offense a few times and a handful of quality drives gave Douglas several looks inside of Viking territory.
However, Douglas was held off the scoreboard until there were 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Kaleb Valdez deposited a 28-yard field goal to make it 26-3 Vanden.
“We told the kids at halftime that it was about us,” said Douglas High head coach Kyle Mays. “Especially, there at the end of the first half. We should’ve, at a bare minimum, had it 20-7. I think we could’ve gone in 20-14 or better.”
Close chances
Instead, Douglas trailed 20-0 at the intermission.
The Tigers second offensive possession of the game stalled on a fourth down sack at Vanden’s 40.
Vanden capitalized with back-to-back touchdown drives, including a two-point conversion to make it 20-0 with 6:51 left in the opening half.
Douglas’ defense stepped up with an interception by Cole Smalley, thanks to Trace Estes deflecting a pass at the line.
The Tigers also recovered a fumble inside their own 20 to stall another Viking drive.
After the fumble recovery, Connor Jackson sprung loose for a 60-plus yard run that setup Douglas in the red zone.
However, a deflected pass went the other way as Vanden grabbed a pick in the end zone.
“There speed was quite a bit different than we usually see, so it was good competition,” said Mays. “We were able to adjust to it a little bit.”
Defensively, Smalley put together several stern hits while Zach Westbrook nearly had his third interception of the season in the fourth quarter.
Second half swing
On their second drive of the second half, the Tigers encountered a 20-plus minute delay, due to a fight between fans on the Vanden sideline that resulted in play being stopped.
“A girl got pushed over the fence and onto the track and (Vanden) thought it was a safety issue. They told us to move down to one end to stay safe,” said Mays. “A little bit of a scary situation, but I thought everybody, Vanden and our kids handled it great.”
Once play resumed, the Tigers faced a third-and-6 at the Vikings 24-yard line.
A sack and an incomplete pass on fourth stymied the drive for Douglas.
On the next play, Vanden went 64 yards for a touchdown to make it 26-0.
Douglas’ next drive was bolstered by another long run from junior back Connor Jackson, but a fumbled snap two plays later brought the chance to a close at the Viking 26.
The Tigers scored on their next two drives as Valdez knocked through the Tigers’ first points with a 28-yard field goal.
Douglas’ final drive spanned 55 yards and ended with a five-yard quarterback scramble for Aden Flory to pay dirt.
“We talk all the time that closing out drives is extremely hard to do,” said Mays. “For the kids to get down there and put points on the board is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, we can build on that going into next week.”
UP NEXT: Douglas (1-1) will play against its first Northern Nevada opponent, McQueen (0-2), in a non-league contest. The Tigers will play the Lancers Saturday at 1 p.m. at McQueen High School.
