Douglas outguns Reno

MINDEN - One hundred points; 1,232 yards of total offense; six touchdowns in the final quarter.

For all of the many, many memorable numbers the Douglas and Reno High football teams hung on each other, the two that mattered most for the Tigers were blazing brightly on the south end zone scoreboard when the final gun sounded.

Douglas 56, Reno 44.

"I can't tell you how proud of those boys I am," said Douglas coach Ernie Monfiletto, who recorded a victory in his head-coaching debut. "One hundred points on the scoreboard, it's going to wear somebody out. I have a great deal of respect for that Reno program. Those kids just don't quit and Dan (Avansino) does a great job with them.

"There are some areas we need to correct, but now our focus turns to McQueen."

School records fell fast and hard Friday night as senior quarterback Michael Nolting broke his own school marks in passing (430 yards) and total offense (496 yards) while completing 21 of 25 passes for six touchdowns. Dusty Fisher obliterated the school single-game receiving mark with 12 catches for 317 yards and 5 TDs, and Douglas put up a team record 449 passing yards in the game.

"It was basically all Dusty (on the passing yardage)," Nolting said. "He just got open every single time. Our line played so well, too. I never got touched once this whole night. You really have to give it to them. Reno has big physical guys up front, and our line kept them off me."

Fisher agreed that the numbers were the result of a group effort.

"We just had faith in the whole offense," Fisher said. "The offensive line did a great job. Connor Peterson (28 carries, 159 yards) ran the ball really well tonight. The whole group just did a great job."

It all added up to Douglas' first season-opening win since 2005.

"We haven't started off with a win in so long and it just feels good to get off on the right foot," Nolting said.

Douglas scored on eight of its nine possessions in the game, but Reno was up to the task, piling up 559 yards of total offense with quarterback Chad Savage passing for 358 yards.

For all the statistics, the game came down to a few key stops on defense for Douglas.

The Tigers jumped out to a 28-7 lead, which held until the Huskies punched in a touchdown just before halftime.

Reno came out and scored on its first possession of the second half, cutting the score to 28-20 (the point-after attempt failed) and then picked off a Nolting pass in Douglas territory on the ensuing drive.

The Huskies drove inside the Tiger 10-yard line, setting up with a first-and-goal at the 6.

The Tiger defense stiffened on three consecutive plays, aided by a Cody Hayes sack on third down from the 3, forcing the Huskies to settle for a field goal.

Nolting hit Fisher for a 65-yard touchdown pass three plays later.

"The defense stepped up there and I think it was decisive," Monfiletto said. "We turned them back, they lost momentum and we came back.

"We're not going to win championships if we don't stop people. We're going to hunker down tomorrow, develop a gameplan, come back out next week and get after it."

Douglas hosts McQueen Friday at 7:30 p.m.