RENO — Three first-half turnovers on Friday night proved to be game-changers for the Douglas High football team in its 42-7 defeat at North Valleys.
Two of those turnovers led directly to touchdowns for North Valleys (1-1), as the Panthers surged to a 21-0 halftime lead.
Douglas (1-1) gave the ball away on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter — with devastating results. The first came when the Tigers lost a fumble at the North Valleys 1 yard line, although they got the ball right back when Kaleb Foster recovered a fumble at the Douglas 34.
Foster caught a 43-yard pass from quarterback Nick Abreu at the 20, but after a holding penalty, the Panthers got the ball back on Connor Eastman’s interception and 25-yard return.
The Panthers only needed five plays to move 50 yards, capped by quarterback Melando Cachapero’s 12-yard touchdown run with 59 seconds left before halftime. Cachapero ran for three touchdowns and threw for another.
North Valleys drove to the 1 on its opening possession of the game, only to be denied on fourth-and-goal when sophomore defensive end Teran Grove stopped quarterback Melando Cachapero for no gain.
The Panthers, however, weren’t to be denied on their next two possessions. They started with an 87-yard, six-play drive that was capped when Alex Palko burst to his left and then cut back en route to a 50-yard touchdown run.
Douglas turned the ball over on a fumble on the ensuing play and North Valleys recovered at the 26. The Panthers only needed five plays to cash in when Cachapero broke through the ride side for a 13-yard run.
Douglas got on the scoreboard on the opening play from scrimmage after halftime when Cale Kynett broke through the line of scrimmage, shook off two would-be tacklers and exploded 64 yards for a touchdown.
North Valleys answered on its next possession, however when Cachapero hit Alex Frazier on a fourth-and-10 pass for a 32-yard touchdown.
Cachapero’s 6-yard run at the end of the third quarter pushed the lead to 35-7.
North Valleys 42, Douglas 7
Douglas 0-0-7-0 — 7
North Valleys 6-15-14-7 — 42
First quarter
NV — Palko 50 run (kick failed), 1:15
Second quarter
NV — Cachapero 13 run (Frazier pass from Cachapero), 11:54
NV — Cachapero 12 run (Lucas kick), :59
Third quarter
D — Kynett 64 run (Gonzalez kick), 11:45
NV — Frazier 32 pass from Cachapero (Lucas kick), 6:17
NV — Cachapero 6 run (Lucas kick), 1:29
Fourth quarter
NV — Frazier 3 run Lucas kick (Lucas kick), 2:45
