For the first quarter and a half, there was just about nothing the Douglas offense could do to get the ball moving.
Through the rest of the game, there was little the McQueen defense could do to stop it.
Even so, the Lancers found ways to stand up when they had to and had just enough in the tank to hold on for a 21-12 win in the first round of the Northern 4A Regional playoffs Friday in Minden.
"We just didn't finish things and that was unfortunate," Douglas coach Mike Rippee said. "We had opportunities and we played hard, but give credit to McQueen. They've been here before and they stepped it up and did a great job."
McQueen came out strong on defense, limiting Douglas to negative 14 yards of total offense in the first quarter. Lancer punt returner Josh Lagrone took a punt 55 yards for a touchdown and defensive back Tyler York returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the second quarter, giving the Lancers the 14-0 lead.
"You can't have those kinds of mistakes," Rippee said. "We've word hard and those types of scores have been our forte this season. Last time we played them, we got two defensive touchdowns of our own. Tonight it went their way."
It appeared as though McQueen was ready to roll to a blowout after York's return, but the offensive line started pushing through for the Tigers and Douglas began finding ways to get the ball moving.
Reese Kizer had an eight-yard carry on the following drive on third-and-3, giving Douglas its first first down of the night with 9:30 remaining in the second quarter, and Douglas was on its way.
Six plays later, Kizer took a pitch from quarterback David Laird and dropped back for a halfback pass, finding Kyle Heidt wide open behind the Lancer defense for a 31-yard touchdown and cutting the lead to 14-6.
"After McQueen got up, we still felt like we could come back and make a run at them," Rippee said. "It was very similar to the first meeting."
Sean Peralta intercepted a Brian Barnett pass on the Lancers' next drive, setting the Tigers up at the Douglas 28 and Kizer carried the ball on the next six plays, going for a total of 44 yards.
The drive sputtered at the McQueen 29 with a short run from Tyler Tinstman and two incompletions. the second of which was nearly caught by Steven Passalacqua in the in the end zone.
"It would have been nice to poke that one in before halftime," Rippee said.
Douglas kept on the upswing to open the second half as Julius Bailey returned the kickoff to Douglas 45.
Kizer had three carries for 16 yards and Douglas moved up to the Lancer 24 on a pass interference call as a heavy fog rolled in over the field.
McQueen was then called for encroachment, moving the ball up to the 21, but the drive again sputtered with a holding call on the Tigers, an incompletion and a sack.
"We had a nice little drive going to start the third quarter, but we just couldn't finish it off," Rippee said.
McQueen got the ball back at its own 7, but the Douglas defense continued to dominate, forcing a punt from the 8.
Tinstman received and made a cut back around to the far side of the field, returning the ball all the way to the 1-yard line.
Kizer, who finished the night with 140 yards on 27 carries, punched the ball in on the next play.
Douglas' attempt for a two-point conversion, however, failed, leaving McQueen up 14-12.
The teams traded possessions two times before Douglas was able to advance the ball to the Lancer 30 after starting out at their own 6.
Once again, the Tigers couldn't push it any further, turning it over on downs after a Lancer sack.
Two plays later, McQueen's Styker Ngongseke ran to the outside for a 53-yard touchdown.
It was, by far, McQueen's longest play of the night and one of the Tigers' only breakdowns defensively.
Douglas only gave up 161 yards on the ground to the Lancers and just 53 yards through the air.
McQueen stopped Douglas on its next drive, but Douglas answered by holding the Lancers at their own 48 with about two minutes left.
A roughing the punter penalty on fourth-and-11 and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play washed out any last gasps for the Tigers and McQueen got the ball back at the Tiger 22. The Lancers ran out the clock from there.
The fog, which at times was so thick that the numbers of the players on the field couldn't be seen from the sideline, lasted until the very moment the buzzer sounded.
It was just another bizarre chapter in Douglas' struggles with playoff weather at home.
In 2003, the Tigers lost in the regional championship game when a snow storm struck an hour before gametime, leaving Carson Valley covered with about an inch of snow.
In 2002, the Tigers dropped a first-round game to Galena at home when a large rainstorm left their field with a large mud pit in the middle.
"If you ever have a drought, just put us in the playoffs and we'll take care of it," Rippee said with a laugh.
Tinstman finished the game with 67 yards on 12 carries and Laird passed for 33 yards.
Heidt had three catches for 55 yards.
The offensive line of Trevor McCarthy, Curtis Hartzell, Mike Colyer, Kevin Rogers and Keith Lowe was especially impressive against McQueen through the middle portion of the game, when Kizer picked up the bulk of his yardage.
Douglas finished the year with an 8-3 record overall.
n Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
