Douglas High's Andrew Strand cuts through a gap on a rushing play Friday evening against Damonte Ranch.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Friday night proved to be another tough matchup for Douglas High School football.
Damonte Ranch entered the contest with nearly an identical record as the Tigers, but the Mustangs were coming off a big win over Reno, 39-7, last week.
Damonte carried that same mindset into Minden, defeating Douglas, 56-10.
Both teams opening drives stalled out as Douglas’ Zach Westbrook broke up a pass on fourth down to give the Tigers the ball.
Douglas grabbed a first down on a screen pass from Owen Evans to Trace Estes, but the drive stalled near midfield.
The ensuing Mustang drive was their first trip to the end zone as Damonte Ranch used 10 plays to travel 63 yards for six points.
Damonte’s next two scores came on one-play drives as the Mustangs went to the air to take a 21-0 lead with 8:09 left in the opening half.
Douglas was able to get points on the board on its next series, using a 19-yard reception by Kyle Koontz to move the ball into Mustang territory.
A pair of 15-yard Damonte Ranch penalties left the Tigers inside the 10, but the Mustangs kept Douglas out of the end zone.
Kaleb Valdez concluded the drive with a 25-yard field goal to make it 21-3 with 5:07 remaining before half.
Damonte punched in two more scores before the break, ending the half with a score and triple zeroes on the clock, making it 35-3 at the intermission.
“We got outplayed, out-coached, out-everything,” said Douglas High head coach Kyle Mays.
Taking advantage of the bye week
The Tigers only suited up 27 players Friday evening and the lack of depth has certainly played a factor this season.
Injuries have continued to chip away at active players on the sidelines on Fridays.
“We don’t have very many kids to begin with. We don’t have a lot of bodies, but the ones that we do have put in a lot of effort and try their tails off,” said Mays. “When you’re thin, you are thin and kids wear down eventually.”
The Tigers don’t have another contest until October 14 when they’ll travel North for The Rivalry Game with Carson High (1-6, 0-4).
Carson is experiencing similar injury issues and fell 47-0 at the hands of Spanish Springs (3-4, 1-1) Friday evening.
“Carson is always the game of the year for us. The bye week we will spend trying to get healed up and trying to get prepared for Carson. Having two weeks will be nice,” said Mays.
Area scores
Damonte Ranch 56, Douglas 10
Spanish Springs 47, Carson 0
Bishop Manogue 44, Galena 3
Truckee 53, Sparks 0
Hug 36, North Valleys 20
Pyramid Lake 48, Sierra Lutheran 6
Fallon 49, Spring Creek 19
Yerington 69, West Wendover 0
Wooster 27, South Tahoe 13
