The Douglas High freshman football squad wrapped up a 7-2 season last week with an impressive 25-6 win over the Carson Senators.
"It was a tougher game than the scoreboard showed," Douglas coach Ollie Herald said. "The defense played a great game, they pitched a shutout. Carson's touchdown came on a long punt return."
The Tiger special teams came right back with a 70-yard touchdown on a reverse courtesy of Conner Peterson.
The Tigers got solid games out of Peterson, who scored two touchdowns, quarterback Michael Nolting and Conner Greth.
Michael Hoyt led the Tiger defense.
"It was a battle all the way through," Herald said. "Carson was well-coached and well-prepared. Our kids played hard, they definitely started off their rivalry with Carson the right way. They played hard for four quarters, worked hard all week to get ready. They are a great group of kids.
"I'm sad to see the season end, because they were a great group to coach."
JV
The Douglas Tiger junior varsity's season came to rather an abrupt end last Wednesday with a 48-28 loss to the Carson Senators. The Tigers fell behind early in this one and though they made a game of it in the second half, did not have enough in the tank to overcome the mistakes of the first half.
Carson had scored first and then kicked to the Tigers who took over on their 30. But an intercepted pass was returned for a touchdown and the score was quickly 14-0. Douglas fared better the next time they had the ball, finishing a drive with a 10-yard scoring run by Dylan Nielson. However, the Tigers were unable to stop the Carson offense on their next possession and the score stood at 21-7
Douglas continued to move the ball, driving to the eight yard line midway through the 2nd quarter, only to have a pass intercepted in the end zone. Three plays later, on third and ten from their own 20, Carson converted a screen pass into an 80-yard touchdown for a 28-7 lead. Not content with the hole they had dug themselves thus far, the Tigers then turned the ball over to Carson on the Douglas one yard line due to a bad snap. One play after that Carson took a 35-7 lead into the locker room.
Douglas came out determined to catch up in the second half. They drove for a touchdown to open the half, the score coming on a pass from Sam Cochran to Nick Maestretti. They followed that by recovering an onside kick and were soon knocking on the door at the Carson 12-yard line. But the bubble burst there. The Tigers were unable to convert a fourth down play, and a few minutes later Carson had scored another TD making the score 41-14.
Douglas scored twice more, one a 30-yard touchdown pass from Cochran to Brandon Josifko, and the other a 40-yard reverse by Maestretti. Maestretti, who was subbing for regular kicker Nate Vonahsen, converted all four extra point attempts as well as kicking two successful onside kicks.
Though disappointed by the loss to Carson, Coach Lance Hartzell was very happy with the season put up by his team. " These guys played hard all year, and never gave up. They were down 35-7 tonight, but they didn't quit. You could sometimes fault their execution, but never their effort."
