A steady ground game and a big play defense helped the Douglas Tiger junior varsity sqaud pick up its sixth win and remain undefeated, beating Damonte Ranch 30-3 Friday.
The Douglas running game was effective on the opening drive with running backs Corey Dillon, Connor Hughes and Dylan Nielson taking chunks out of the Damonte defense.
Nielson carried the last 12 yards for the touchdown with the assistance of a great downfield block by wide receiver Steve Werth. The kick by Nate Vonahsen was good to give Douglas a 7-0 lead with barely 2 minutes gone in the game.
Damonte was not so fortunate. On their opening drive they fumbled and Matt Wylie recovered for the Tigers on the Damonte 15 yard line.
However, the Mustang defense was able to keep Douglas out of the end zone, and the Tigers turned the ball back over on downs on the Damonte 6-yard line. Two plays later though, Douglas defenders Austin Martin and Jackson Ketron converged on the Mustang quarterback in the end zone for a safety and a 9-0 lead.
Midway through the second quarter, Douglas started a drive on its own 43 and keeping the ball on the ground, scored on a five yard run by Dillon. Tight end Nick Lufrano keyed several of the runs with his blocks on the defensive end.
Vonahsen's kick was good.
Linebacker Sam Cochran stepped in front of a Damonte slant pass at the five yard line, intercepted it and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown near the end of the half.
Ketron's block on the QB eliminated the only Mustang who could've stopped Cochran. The extra point gave Douglas a 23-0 halftime lead.
The second half opened much the same was and Cochran picked off another pass and returned 45 yards for a touchdown.
Vonahsen's kick capped the scoring for Douglas at 30. The Tigers were able to move the ball throughout the second half, and though they did have two touchdowns called back because of penalties, they just were not able to score.
Damonte managed two drives in the second half, the first ending in a field goal, and the second ending with an interception by cornerback Brandon Josifko.
Coach Lance Hartzell said his team's consistency and overall performance was down, but that they came up with big plays when necessary.
"You never want to make excuses, but we've had a lot of guys sick and missing practice," he said. "It was kind of an ugly win, but we'll take it."
Douglas hosts Wooster Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Douglas JV girls' soccer team took on their rival, the Carson Senators, in Minden last week.
Carson got on on the board in about the 20th minute with a high shot that Ericka Munoz couldn't quite reach.
The Douglas offense had their hands full trying to get a goal. Aspen Abbott, Marissa Cowan and Tory Peiters were working the Senator defense with multiple shots that didn't register in the goal. Kaitlyn Varble, Halley Niehoff, Kaelin Mejia, Courtney Grahl-Lawrence and Cara Dunkelman continuoulsy fed the fall to center hoping to capitalize. The Tigers were initially deflated but, the girls rose to the challenge and kept the ball moving towards the Senators net. The first half ended with Carson up 1-0.
The Tiger defense held strong with Jillian Olivera, Kelly Tompkins, Lacey Marsh, Allison Chambon, Gabby Chavira, Kelsey Mehrer and Savannah Roberson keeping the ball away from their net.
Late in the game Dunkelman took a shot outside the 18-yard line and it got by the Senator goalie to tie things up at one.
