It's become an unsettling trend that Douglas football coach Mike Rippee says simply has to stop.
For the third time this season, and the second-consecutive week, the Tigers found themselves just eight minutes into the game and trailing by multiple scores.
That Tigers came back from deficits of 13-0 and 20-14 at Damonte Ranch Friday, using three touchdowns in the last 10 minutes of the game to push ahead to a 35-20 win.
Despite the win, Rippee had some choice words both for his team and for himself afterward.
"Damonte came out and played a great game and we came out and went through the same scenario that we have had the last few weeks," Rippee said. "That's not good. I don't know what the deal is. Maybe it's me pushing them too hard.
"I know this is an open league this year and we have the ability to get there. For some reason, I'm just not getting it out of them. The don't seem to be having much enjoyment out of doing this.
"You look at it though, and everyone has come together, they are good kids, they have good character. They don't give up when things get down and I'm riding them pretty hard. But the bottom line is we have to get a change of attitude here. We can't continue like this and think we are going to get where we want to be.
"The playoffs are not a concern right now, we'll be there. We're past the point of just getting to the playoffs. We have to get there and do something. We just need to do something different."
Douglas was without several key players, who were sick, and learned Friday morning they wouldn't have starting quarterback Zack Williams for the game due to an injury.
"We some guys out, but that's no excuse," Ripee said. "You have to give a lot of credit to Damonte Ranch. They were prepared, ready toplay. We're lucky to come away with the win here."
What Douglas got got was an amazing night from running back Johnny Pollack, who carried the ball 42 times for 451 yards and two touchdowns.
His last, which came with 3:22 left, came on a 21-yard run where he dragged the pile a full 10 yards into the end zone. He also played almost the entire game at middle linebacker for the Tigers.
"Johnny does everything," Rippee said. "He's a real player. He goes both ways and we're really depleted at running back right now. I thought that would be our best depth coming into the year, but we've had some hits there. We're using Jonny more than we ever thought we'd use him. It takes a toll."
"He's a competitor though, he gets chewed just like everyone else and he responds."
Lucas Peterson, pressed into starting duty at quarterback on short notice, passed for 142 yards and a touchdown in the game.
The game got off to a wacky start when Damonte intercepted Peterson's first pass attempt on the fifth play of the game and returned it to the Douglas 3-yard line.
After two more plays, Douglas' Austin Neddenriep intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it 91 yards to the Damonte 9. Just two plays later, Douglas fumbled the ball and Damonte's Shaun Welches returned it 95 yards for a touchdown and the early 6-0 lead.
The Tigers turned it over on downs on their next drive and Damonte scored four plays later on a one-yard run from quarterback Max Heckendorn for the 13-0 lead.
Douglas responded with a pair of scores in the second quarter, one on a one-yard plunge from Peterson and the second on a four-yard pass from Peterson to Nikolai Vasquez with 12 seconds left in the half for the 14-13 lead.
Damonte retook the lead in the third quarter on a 6-yard pass from Heckendorn to Kenny Nez and it wasn't until 9:44 remained in the game that Douglas took the lead for good on a 5-yard run from Pollack.
Peterson had a 3-yard touchdown run with 6:03 left and Pollack finished things off with his impressive 21-yarder.
Defensively, Douglas didn't allow Damonte to do much of anything, holding the Mustangs to minus-28 yards on the ground.
All of the Mustangs points came either on short fields set up by turnovers or failed fourth-down attempts by the Tiger offense.
Zach Falanga had a breakout night for the Tiger defense, coming up with three sacks.
"The kids did what they have to do, they work hard, they should enjoy the win," Rippee said. "As a group, though, we just have to get these slow starts figured out. The hardest part of our schedule is ahead of us. We can't get away with starts like that against some of the teams we have coming up."
After an emotional win over Galena last week, the Douglas High football team will travel to Damonte Ranch tonight to try to stave off a Mustang squad still in search of its first win.
The Tigers used two touchdown passes from Zack Williams to Austin Neddenriep within the span of under a minute to take a 24-16 come-from-behind win at Galena last week. Damonte Ranch, on the other hand, is coming of a 9-7 loss at Fallon, a team Douglas beat 35-0 earlier this year.
Galena is the two teams' only other common opponent on the year. Damonte fell 34-7 to the Grizzlies two weeks ago.
Damonte (0-4, 0-2) is led by running back Mike Artemis (61 carries, 290 yards, 4 TDs) and quarterback Mac Heckendorn (28 completions, 406 yards, 2 TDs). Defensively, linemen Cody Kilgore and Mike Rogers each have three sacks. Matt Houk leads the league with three interceptions.
Douglas (3-2, 2-0) is led by running back Johnny Pollack, who leads the league with 576 yards on the ground. Zack Williams in the second-rated passer in the league, having thrown for 595 yards and two touchdowns.
The two teams have only played three times, with Douglas winning all three matchups. The last time they met up in Reno was in 2007 and Douglas won 47-17.
Last year, Douglas beat the Mustangs 27-17 in Minden during the first snowstorm of the year. Pollack ran for 195 yards in the game.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Damonte Ranch. The Record-Courier will be posting live updates to its Web site throughout the game.
