After surviving a scare against winless Damonte Ranch in Reno last week, the Douglas football team may simply be looking to right the ship tonight during the Tigers' homecoming.
Douglas will host a Wooster team that hasn't won a game since the 2008 season opener (a stretch of 14 consecutive losses) and hasn't beaten a 4A team since late in the 2007 season.
The Colts have also lost 13 consecutive Sierra League games, also dating back to 2007.
Not that it's any cause of relief for the Tigers.
Douglas found itself trailing a hapless Damonte Ranch squad 20-14 entering the fourth quarter last week, despite allowing minus-20 yards on the ground in the game.
While the Tigers eventually prevailed 35-20 on three fourth-quarter touchdowns, they also turned the ball over four times in the game and failed to convert nine third downs and three fourth-down attempts in the game.
Part of the problem was a horrendous start to the game as Douglas' first two possessions ended on an interception and a fumble as Damonte took an early 13-0 lead.
It marked the third time this season early miscues led to big deficits for the Tigers.
Slow starts have plagued the team all year as opponents have outscored Douglas 50-17 in the first quarter on the season.
"We came out and went through the same scenario that we have had the last few weeks," Douglas coach Mike Rippee said after the Damonte win. "That's not good."
Making matters more complicated is a Wooster squad that hasn't exactly laid down for the Tigers in recent years.
Last season in Reno, Douglas sputtered offensively on three of its first four drives of the game and allowed an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to the Colts early on. The teams were seperated by just one point at 7-6 entering the second quarter.
Douglas came back and put the game away late but afterward Rippee called the game "ugly" and not "Douglas football."
Douglas has won the last eight matchups between the two teams after Wooster largely dominated the first 20-plus years of the series, losing only once to the Tigers before 2001.
Kickoff Friday night is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Record-Courier will post updates throughout the game on www.recordcourier.com.
