Douglas High’s Andrew Strand (10) lowers his shoulder to get around an Elko defender Friday night in the Tigers’ 14-9 home win. Strand had eight carries for 45 yards in the win.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Douglas High football will make the long trek east to take on Spring Creek on Friday.
The Tigers will have confidence on their side, rolling into town with a 2-0 record for the first time in the last four years.
The Spartans have only played one game so far this season, a 24-0 loss to Galena.
It’s not too unreasonable to speculate what a 3-0 Tiger team might look like.
MaxPreps holds season-by-season records back to 2005 and Douglas hasn’t started 3-0 since prior to that ’05 campaign.
In fact, the last time Douglas won three games in a row was 2016, when the Tigers were able to reel off three wins on a row from late October into early November.
How it’s happening
There are some subtle and some more obvious stats to point too for the early-season success of the Tigers:
Wide receiver Trace Estes has 11 receptions for 207 yards and three touchdowns through the first two games.
Meanwhile, running back Connor Jackson has 229 yards on 36 carries and has scored five times.
Junior Jackson Ovard has stepped into the starting quarterback role and thrived, going 17-for-25 for 261 yards and three touchdowns to one interception.
Douglas’ offense isn’t able to put up these early season offensive numbers without some prime play from the line.
Michael Cahill showed his want-to Friday night, running downfield to follow a pass completion only to fall on a fumble and still get the Tigers a first down.
Jack Ross and Michael White have been staples on the front, as well.
The defensive line has been equally, if not more, impressive to this point of the season.
Douglas had 14.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks through its two games this season.
Leading the way in tackles is senior captain Cole Smalley, with 22. Smalley also leads the team with four sacks.
On the line, Braden Lenz and Sage Adie both have fumble recoveries.
Kyle Koontz is pushing offensive lineman around when he’s on the defensive side of the ball, picking up 3.5 sacks already.
Nathan Stevens has eight tackles and has received praise from the coaching staff over his ability to play assignment football and keep the lanes open for his linebackers.
All in all, the roughly 10-hour round-trip bus ride will feel much sweeter if the Tigers are 3-0 when coming back to Minden.
Either way, Douglas fans are starting to realize the Tigers may be a serious threat to Northern Nevada this fall.
Game info
What: Douglas (2-0) at Spring Creek (0-1)
Where: Spring Creek High School
When: Friday at 7 p.m.
How to watch: NFHS Network
For live updates: Follow @CarterEckl on Twitter
