Douglas High senior Aden Flory jukes a McQueen defender Saturday in Reno. Flory had 48 yards receiving and three tackles against the Lancers.
Photo by Carter Eckl.
Douglas High head coach Kyle Mays was matter-of-fact when it came to his disappointment in his team’s slow start against McQueen last Saturday – a 51-30 loss.
This week, the Tigers head to Reno where Mays and company are determined to not dig themselves a hole early on.
“We had some big missed opportunities that could’ve swung the momentum back in our favor,” said Mays. “Looking back, that second quarter absolutely killed us.”
Douglas’ defensive inability to set the edge Saturday was a key reason why McQueen was able to rush for 318 yards.
“Anybody who watches our film from the last two games is going to try to get to the edge on us,” Mays said. “That’s where you’d think anybody would attack us. So we will see if we can sure that up this week.”
Husky-sized challenges
Reno is going to try and hit the ground running against Douglas.
The Huskies will throw the ball to spread the field, but the Tigers are anticipating Reno using its big guys up front to dictate play.
Anchoring the offensive line will be Carson Darby (No. 79) and Nathan Romine (No. 68).
“They’re one of the best teams in the north and in our league,” said Mays. “We need to see what we can do to get better, but also realize what we are up against here.”
Senior quarterback Hayden Parga (No. 7) will be under center for the Huskies while a couple of running backs – Niko Amari (No. 13) and Breck Worthen (No. 25) – will receive the bulk of the carries.
Mays expects the Huskies to give Douglas a number of different looks on offense to try to keep the Tigers guessing.
“They do a good job of mixing up the play calling and keeping you on your toes,” said Mays. “They are going to find the guy that’s out of position and take advantage of it.”
The Reno defense has allowed just 46 points through three contests and Mays figures the Huskies will present similar challenges to Douglas.
Worthen is one of the team’s top tacklers and junior defensive back Jackson Sellers (No. 21) had three interceptions in the teams’ first game of the year.
Reno will feature a three-man front at defensive line, but the Huskies have shown plenty of willingness to blitz with six or seven guys.
“See if we can get a fast start,” Mays said of his expectations. “I’m hoping we can just play a little better in the first half and see where we can end up going into the fourth quarter.”
