The Douglas Pop Warner football junior pee wee team remained unbeaten on the season, beating Truckee 32-6.
Douglas controlled the game from the opening kickoff, when Lyons recovered the ball inside Wolverine territory. Three plays later, slotback Carter scored on a nice reverse to give the Tigers an early 6-0 lead.
The Tiger defense dominated the game, shutting Truckee's first series down with aggressive blitzing and sure tackling by linebackers Foster, Gervais, Lippincott and Lyons.
After a Truckee punt and two swift runs by halfback Reid, tight end Gervais caught a pass from quarterback Abreu and punched it in to make it 12-0 Douglas.
From then on, the Tiger defense made sure the game never got close. Interceptions by linebackers Foster and Gervais, as well as solid play by free safety Peck and cornerbacks Simons, Carter, Sullivan and Melhus shut down the Truckee passing game.
The defensive line really stepped up their game; defensive ends Abreu, Reid, Goodman and Vidaurri shut down the outside and made big plays in the backfield, while linemen Curtis, Loshbough, Goodman, Vidaurri, Englund, Valenzuela, Fricke, Lewis, Herman, Oleshak, Kaliman and McNeill dominated inside.
With the D-line controlling the line of scrimmage, the Tiger linebackers and defensive backs stuffed the run all game long.
The only glitch came midway through the second half, when Truckee broke free for a score.
The Tiger offensive line played strong once again. Led by center Leonard, the rotation of linemen Garduno, Peters, Loshbough, Rooker, Pelcher, Wass, Melhus, Lathrop, Long, Clinger and O'Connor, along with tight ends Werth & Gervais, made key blocks to open holes for the backs and control the clock.
Douglas went up 18-0 before the half as fullback Curtis punched it in on a power dive play. Long runs by halfbacks Lyons, Reid, Lippincott and Carter kept the Tigers rolling in the second half, with touchdown runs by Reid and Lyons on sweeps. Foster kicked an extra point to make the final score 32-6.
The Tigers take on Fallon Friday night at 6 p.m. at Stodick Park to try to remain undefeated and earn a first place seed heading into the playoffs next week.
The Douglas Tiger Midgets are coming off a bye week after a 28-0 win over South Lake Tahoe two weeks ago. In that game the Tiger defense had perhaps its best performance of the year.
They were playing shorthanded due to injuries and some family vacations, but the rest stepped up to fill the gaps. They gave the offense good field position and numerous opportunities to move the ball throughout the game. In the meantime the offense was having a sluggish first half, but still managed two touchdowns. They picked things up in the third quarter however, by scoring twice more and controlling the ball on the ground through most of the quarter. Some mild Tahoe threats were turned back with timely 3rd and 4th down plays by the defense, and the Tigers were able to run out the clock to secure the victory.
This Friday night the Tigers play their final regular season game at Mira Loma Park in Reno at 8:00 p.m. against the Patriots.
