The Douglas football team saw a whole lot of Isaac Porter Friday night. It also saw a lot of Dexter Rackley and Darren Sheppard.
The trio of running backs rolled up 387 yards on the ground en route to a 26-14 victory over Douglas High Friday night at Hug High School.
"That's a good football team," Douglas coach Mike Rippee said. "We gave them some big plays that we knew we had to take away. We weren't able to take those away tonight.
"They got us."
But even after being outgained by more than 100 yards on offense and even with several members of the offensive line shaken up and outside linebacker Kyle Luken out with a badly sprained ankle, the Tigers were still within striking distance toward the end of the game.
With Hug leading 19-14 midway through the fourth quarter, Douglas had the Hawks stalled at third and six from the Douglas 47. Tyson Estes, Tim Senger and Mike Buffo corralled Rackley for a minimal gain, but the referees flagged the play for a questionable 15-yard facemask call.
It appeared that the Tiger defenders had tackled Rackley by the collar, but a television replay showed Rackley's head slightly jerk back on the play.
Hug's Michael Thigpen hit Ben Harris for an eight-yard touchdown pass six plays later.
"There's a lot of plays that happen," Rippee said. "I didn't like it, but I don't think any coach would.
"You have to move on. It's like I told the kids, you get a call that doesn't go your way, you have to play through it. That's all."
Porter finished the night with 247 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Shepherd had the Hawks other touchdown with a 40-yard run in the second quarter.
"I'm not disappointed in our effort at all," Rippee said. "I just told them that we'll find out what kind of character we have now. That's a good football team that beat us tonight. You try to hold those skill guys in check, but they took advantage of their opportunities.
"That is probably one of the more physical Hug teams that I've seen. They got after it. They took some things away, but we stayed in the game and we had a chance to win it at the end."
Douglas got off to a quick start, shutting Hug down on the opening drive. Spike Agosta, who finished the night with 98 yards on 21 carries, took the Tigers' second offensive play from scrimmage 27 yards for a touchdown.
Porter had a 37-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but the kick failed putting Hug up 13-7.
Bryan Brady made a sensational over-the-shoulder catch on a 12-yard pass from Roman Davis to keep the ensuing drive alive for the Tigers. A 12-yard run from Agosta nine plays later set Douglas up at the Hug 3. Davis, who finished the night with 41 yards passing, took the ball in three yards for the score on the next play to put the Tigers up 14-13.
Three plays into Hug's next drive, Porter scampered 59 yards for his second score of the night. The Hawks two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score 19-14 with a little more than 10 minutes to play.
Douglas' following drive stalled at midfield, setting up the Hawks final scoring drive.
"We regroup on Monday," Rippee said. "It's a long season and we are by no means where we want to be.
"I know these kids won't fold. We'll come back and work hard and do a good job. Our true character will show by how we prepare in the next week. Now we have to prepare for Reno. They're a great football team, we have a great rivalry going with them so we'll see how it goes."
Douglas dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in league while Hug took over sole possession of first place in the Sierra League. Douglas faces Reno in Reno Friday at 7:30 p.m.
