The Douglas football team may be facing a short week, but South Tahoe will be coming off an even shorter one Thursday as the two teams meet up at Whittell High School for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
Douglas is riding an 11-quarter scoreless streak on defense, which goes hand-in-hand with a three-game win streak. South Tahoe, on the other hand, is coming off its first win since 2004, a 20-10 victory during homecoming Saturday.
The Tigers enter the game with all of their key starters healthy as Jeff Nady recorded a sack against North Valleys last week after missing the previous week with a leg injury, and Reese Kizer returned to action after missing a week also with a leg injury.
Kizer's return marks certain headaches for the Viking as he and Tyler Tinstman make up one of the more formidable rushing duos in the region.
Kizer has run for 365 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 4.1 yards per carry on the year, and Tinstman has run for 392 yards and two touchdowns on the year, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
Quarterback David Laird has thrown for 534 yards on the year and is coming off his most efficient game of the year, completing 12 of 16 passes for 115 yards.
But for as efficient as the Tigers' offense has been, the thing that South Tahoe will probably have to deal with more is Douglas' stifling defense.
Douglas allows an average of 101 yards on the ground per game, and that against five of the Northern 4A's top 10 individual rushers and has giving up an average of 122 passing yards a game, with that including three of the region's top five passers.
Ball-hawking would be a bit of an understatement as Douglas has 20 takeaways in six games, and has had at least three in each of its last five games, with five interceptions coming against No. 6 North Valleys Friday.
The defensive line has been a large part of the pressure with Anthony Alvitre leading the team with six sacks on the year. Nady, Sean Molina and Nate Whalin each have four sacks and Phil Mannelly and Cody Hannah each have two.
Linebacker Brent Koontz has four interceptions on the year to lead the Tigers while defensive backs Sean Peralta, Niko Saladis and Cole Hamzik each have three.
South Tahoe will be led by quarterback Anthony Stagnaro, who passed for 122 yards in a 20-10 win over Wooster last week, and running back Chris Diana, who ran for 93 yards.
The game will be played at Whittell as Douglas' home field is still under construction.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
