R-C Sports Notebook: Laird developing into a big-time quarterback

Everyone expected to see one of the region's best quarterbacks turn in a big game last week in the Douglas-Reno football matchup.

What few saw coming, however, was which team that quarterback would be playing for.

Sure, Reno's Jon Dankworth recovered from a rocky start to rally the Huskies with 188 yards and two touchdown passes.

But it was Douglas junior David Laird who remained calm under pressure all night.

Laird, who at 6-2, 222 pounds is bigger than all but one of the Tigers' linemen, has been getting progressively better every week.

Friday night against Reno with the league title on the line, however, he came into his own.

"After the first week against Reed, I'm sure people were asking what in the world we were doing with an offensive tackle playing quarterback," Douglas coach Mike Rippee said. "But David is so extremely coachable and he works so hard every day. He has grown up a lot this season."

Laird passed for 146 yards and a touchdown Friday, completing his first six passes and only missing five all night.

While his numbers have remained around the same for each game this season, with a little more here and a little less there, it's the things that can't be tracked on paper that have come to the forefront of his game.

His presence in the pocket and his touch on the long passes into coverage have improved tremendously.

His five longest completions of the last two weeks, all more than 25 yards, have all come on fade routes, whereas earlier in the season he was limited to bullet strikes to the flat and on the seam to the tight ends.

Against Reno, he nailed his last three passes of the night, with the game on the line in the fourth quarter.

He was 4-for-6 on third downs, converting first downs on three of those and also showed improved mobility, scrambling away from the quick Reno defensive front several times.

Oh, and it was Laird who recovered that final onside kick for the Tigers to essentially seal the win.

Add to it the fact the Douglas will return its top two receivers, tight end Kevin Emm and wide receiver Kyle Heidt, next season and it's a good bet that Laird will be drawing plenty of recruiting interest.

- Laird wasn't the only player to make a statement about his Division I viability Friday night. Reno senior tight end Dan Knapp (6-5, 225) is the real deal.

He is a solid blocker, no question, but he also made a series of unbelievable catches under double- and triple-coverage in the fourth quarter Friday night.

"That guy made some great catches, no question," Rippee said. "We had guys draped all over him and we just couldn't stop him."

Dankworth tossed the ball up for Knapp several times and Knapp found a way to hang on to the ball each time.

He caught a five-yard jump ball to get the Huskies on the board and then made an remarkable bobbling catch on a two-point conversion on Reno's next score. Of course, it appeared that he may have gained possession of the ball out of the end zone, but just the same.

Knapp has been offered scholarships from Fresno State and Nevada, but don't be surprised if more schools come into the picture as the recruiting season heats up.

- More on recruiting. Douglas' Keith Olson made a verbal committment to Northern Arizona last week, bringing to an end speculation as to where he might end up.

Olson should fit in well with the Lumberjacks, who have become a Big Sky Conference power over the last several years

NAU coach Mike Adras recruits to shoot, focusing his offense on the three-pointer. Olson is no stranger to playing with solid outside shooters and can work in a variety of offenses. Regardless, the Lumberjacks propensity to shoot from the outside should open up the inside for Olson. If he gets in one-on-one situations, he is nearly unstoppable.

NAU regularly faces a rigorous non-conference slate, playing teams like UCLA, Arizona and Kansas. Olson may not be headed to one of the "big" programs, but he'll definitely see plenty of them.

- The Douglas football coaching staff deserves a enormous pat on the back for what it was able to do this year.

And that's not just at the varsity level.

Without playing a home game, Douglas won the Sierra League title at both the varsity and junior varsity levels and came in a close second at the freshman level.

The freshman coaching staff has said several times it has one of the most talented crops of ninth-graders to ever come through the program, specifically on the offensive line and in its stable of running backs, and the junior varsity program is full of strong players in the passing game.

For anyone who saw the varsity team's season-opening shutout loss to Reed, it would have been a far stretch at the time, to say that the least, to even think the Tigers had a shot at winning their league.

It is a testament both to the coaching staff and to the coachability and work ethic of the players that they turned in a season like this.

Douglas simply got better every week and it showed. The Tigers that beat Reno Friday night are a completely different team than the one that showed up in week 1 against Reed.