Football: Defending league champions meet Friday night

Bill it any way you want.

Battle of the defending league champions. Hall of Fame game. Season-opener.

Friday night's match-up between the defending Sierra League champ Douglas Tigers and the defending High Desert League champ Reed Raiders promises to be all of the above, and is shaping up to be a good preview of the season ahead.

Reed will be replacing most of its skill positions from a team that lost top quarterback Tony Maldonado among many others and Douglas will be replacing seven starting spots on a defense that ranked among the top units in the state last year.

Reed has been a strong offensive team in the last five years while Douglas has prided itself on its defense. How quickly the two schools are able to rebuild will tell a lot toward the outcome of the game.

On the other hand, Douglas will bring back an experienced offense, particularly on the line, and Reed comes to Minden with a defense that was the first in 42 games to shut out the Tiger offense during last year's season opener.

The Raider-Tiger season-opening rivalry dates back several years with the schools evenly splitting the last four matchups, each winning on its own turf.

Douglas claimed the 2003 and 2005 meetings in Minden, 42-16 and 14-7 respectively, while Reed won the 2004 and 2006 meetings in Sparks 42-21 and 21-0.

Senior quarterback David Laird is coming off a 75-completion, 963-yard season passing and is expected to lead the Tigers this year. He threw for 64 yards against Reed last year.

Senior tight end Kevin Emm (15 catches, 236 yards, 3 touchdowns) was the team's leading receiver last year, followed closely by senior wide receiver Kyle Heidt (14-225-1).

Brock Peterson is expected to take the bulk of the carries after running for 185 yards and five touchdowns in a reserve role over the last two years. He is the Tigers' only three-year varsity player this year.

Will Sheerin (27-231-4 last year) will also see a substantial amount of carries.

Defensive tackle Jeff Nady had two of his seven sacks on the year against Reed last season.

Kickoff is at Keith Duke Roman Field at Big George Sports Complex Friday night at 7 p.m.