If there's any prevailing theme to Mike Rippee's football program at Douglas High School it's that football is a team sport.
Friday night would be the perfect case in point.
The Tiger offense stepped up in the first half while the defense sorted out some lapses and the defense came right back in the second half to pull off three huge stands in the final 10 minutes of the game, helping Douglas seal a 28-21 win over No. 3 Manogue in Minden.
"It took about three major coronaries to get there, but it is very nice to beat a quality team like that," Rippee said. "We did what we had to do in the end, even though we managed to make it interesting."
Zach Williams zapped a 17-yard bullet into the end zone for Danny King with just under two minutes left in the third quarter to break a 21-all tie and give the Tigers what would be the go-ahead touchdown, but the game was only starting get interesting.
Manogue quarterback Zach McElroy, who threw for 195 yards and a touchdown in the game, was sacked for a five-yard loss on the first play of the next drive and was taken off the field on a stretcher with what was believed to be a concussion. He wouldn't return.
When play resumed, Douglas' defense clamped down to force the first punt of the game for either team, which came with 11:54 left. A fumble on third-and-9 from the Manogue 28, however, set the Miners up at their own 42.
Manogue converted a third down on a 10-yard keeper from Brennan Hogan, who'd replaced McElroy in the game, with 9:01 left. It proved to be the Miners' final first down of the game.
Douglas came up with a big stop on fourth-and-2 from its own 35 and got the ball back with 6:51 left.
The drive quickly sputtered and the Tigers lined up for the punt, but the snap sailed high over Nikolai Vasquez's head. Vasquez managed to recover the ball, but not until it had rolled all the way to the Tiger 10.
The Tigers stopped Phillip Brahler for a three-yard loss on first-down, but Brahler came right back with a 10-yard gain to the 3-yard line.
Hogan was tackled for a two-yard loss, setting up fourth-and-goal from the 10 and Zach Falanga and Ryan Moglich teamed up to sack Hogan for a loss of 22 yards to give the Tiger offense the ball back at its own 27 with 3:41 left.
The Tigers managed to roll the clock all the way down to 1:05, primarily on runs from Johnny Pollack, but a fumble on third-and-10 set Manogue up at the 25.
After an incompletion, Pollack pounced on a Miner fumble to get the ball back with 55 seconds left. Douglas was able to run the clock out from there.
"We really had to fight for this but we pulled it out," said Douglas defensive lineman Garrett Tenney, who had one sack on the night. "It was a great team effort by everybody and we just had guys make plays when it mattered.
"The defense has gotten to where we have a bond. We know we can count on each other out there. Every guy does his part. If someone makes a mistake, someone else picks him up."
Manogue came out running a no-huddle offense to open the game and wasted little time driving 80 yards in 11 plays and scoring on a one-yard plunge by Austin Petersen.
The Douglas offense came back with a nice drive of its own, highlighted by a phenomenal catch at midfield from Danny King and completed with a 27-yard touchdown pass form Lucas Peterson to Austin Neddenriep.
King had to go high in the air on third-and-8 and took a nasty hit from behind, but held onto the ball for a 16-yard catch.
The defense appeared to have things pretty well solved up on the next drive, forcing Manogue into a third-and-22 from the Douglas 48, but McElroy rolled right and found Blake Bishop open downfield for a 48-yard touchdown pass with 2:39 left in the first quarter.
Douglas rotated drives with Williams and Peterson at quarterback during the first half, giving the senior Peterson the start on senior night. Williams engineered a seven-play, 48-yard scoring drive, culminating in a one-yard keeper to give Douglas the 14-13 lead.
That followed on the heels of the defense's first stop of the night.
Riley Griffith sacked McElroy on Manogue's next drive, forcing a fumble which was recovered by August Greth.
Douglas' offense stalled on the Miner 25, but the Tigers came out in a punt formation. The Tigers faked the punt, with Ryen Ake sweeping to the left, which drew almost the entire defense to the left side of the field while Pollack took the snap and cruised into the end zone on the counter play up the middle.
The Miners later tied the game up on a 32-yard run from Petersen and subsequent two-point pass from McElroy to Peterson, but Douglas got everything it needed on its following drive.
Pollack finished with 95 yards while Williams rushed for 50 and passed for 167.
Peterson passed for 65 yards, King had six catches for 66 yards and Neddenriep had three catches for 106 yards.
The win clinched a playoff spot for Douglas and put the Tigers on the inside track to the Sierra League title. Douglas has games at South Tahoe and Carson remaining. Wins in both would clinch the title outright.
"It's a great win," Rippee said. "We take them one at a time. We know how good Carson is and how well-coached they are. We'll get to that bridge when we come to it, but we have go up to the Lake first and try to take care of business there."
