Football: Douglas 'hosts' Damonte Ranch tonight

The Douglas Tigers 2006 football tour continues tonight as the Tigers play "host" to Damonte Ranch at Galena High School in Reno with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Douglas continues to wait for its home field to be completed, although crews were working on compacting the surface this week.

In the meantime, Douglas will move its temporary home at Bishop Manogue High School to Galena for the game against the Mustangs.

The Tigers are coming off a 19-12 win over archrival Carson in a game that was much more in favor of Douglas than the scoreboard showed.

Douglas rolled up 201 yards rushing, its best total of the season, and held Carson to just 165 yards total offense, including 53 on the ground.

Damonte Ranch (1-2 overall, 1-0 Sierra League), on the other hand, is coming off its first-ever Northern 4A win - a 35-6 triumph over South Tahoe - and will be looking to ride the momentum into Friday's game.

The Mustangs will likely count on running backs Brian Walsh, Jack Brown and Matt Gardner on offense. Walsh had two touchdowns in last week's win and ran for 93 yards. Brown ran for 83 yards and two scores.

They'll have to face up against one of the most imposing rushing defenses in the North however, as Douglas lowered its season yards-against average to 89.75 last week against Carson.

Standout defensive tackle Jeff Nady suffered a minor knee sprain last week and was on crutches earlier in the week but even if he can't go, Forrest Scott did an admirable job filling in after Nady went down.

The rest of the defense has been stellar, led by linemen Nate Whalin (four sacks, one blocked punt), Anthony Alvitre (three sacks, one forced fumble), Phil Mannelly (two sacks), and Sean Molina (two sacks).

Linebacker Brent Koontz has three interceptions in the last three weeks and safety Cole Hamzik had an interception in last week's game.

Offensively, running back Reese Kizer (85 carries, 361 yards, four touchdowns) also got roughed up last week and its unsure whether or not he will play this week.

Douglas has plenty of other capable running backs however with Tyler Tinstman (28-109), Ryan Pruitt, Brandon Lawrence, Will Sheerin and Brock Peterson all able to run well.

The Tigers have also been making strides with their passing game as quarterback David Laird threw for a season-high 145 yards last week. He has completed 30 passes for 388 yards and two touchdowns on the year and has run for an additional two scores.

Kyle Heidt leads the Tiger receivers with seven catches for 96 yards and Kevin Emm has caught five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns.

Check www.recordcourier. com for updates throughout and after Friday's game.

-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.