Miners take a bite out of Tigers

MINDEN — The Bishop Manogue Miners have one of the most potent 1-2 punches in Northern 4A football.

The Miners have the league’s leading rusher Peyton Dixon — 1,213 yards despite missing one game coming into Friday night — and quarterback Drew Scolari.

On Friday night in Minden, Dixon and Scolari showed why the Miners’ offense is something to pay attention to during a 69-14 win over Douglas High.

The Miners amassed 480 yards of total offense in the first half. Dixon rushed for 237 yards and four touchdowns and Scolari had more than 140 yards on the ground and through the air as the Miners went into halftime with a 48-14 lead at Keith Roman Field.

After a quick three-and-out by the Tigers to open the game, Scolari faked to Dixon and went eight yards for the opening score with 9:23 to play in the opening quarter.

Dixon went 62 yards on Manogue’s second possession for a touchdown as the Miners went up 14-0 after another three-and-out by the Tigers.

After another Tiger punt, Dixon scored from 23 yards out as the Miners took a commanding 21-0 lead with 6:35 to play in the first quarter. After another three-and-out by the Tigers, Scolari went on a 65-yard run before being brought down at the one-yard-line. Ezekial Lee gave Manogue a 28-0 lead before the Tigers even had a first down.

Kody Gray gave the Tigers’ offense a spark after he bobbled the ensuing kickoff (twice) and then proceeded to return it 88 yards for a touchdown. A block in the back call against Douglas took the points off the scoreboard but gave the Tigers the ball at the Manogue 36 with 2:45 to play in the first half. The Douglas blocker appeared to have made a legal block on the Mangoue player.

The Tigers picked up two first downs, including a nice third down conversion by quarterback Colton Weidner. Weidner hit Cameron Swain for a nice gain and a much-needed first down. Race Coman would pick up 19 yards on a run before the first quarter ended, with the Tigers offense starting to come into its own.

Facing a third-and-goal from the 12 to start the second quarter, Weidner misfired and coach Ernie Monfiletto decided to go for it on fourth down. Weidner connected on a perfectly thrown ball to Isaiah Geilenfeldt for a Tiger touchdown.

Scolari would lead the Miners down the field, throwing a nine-yard touchdown pass and pushing the Miners back up by 28 (35-7). Douglas would answer though with a nice drive. Weidner would hit running back Trevor Kruger for an eight-yard touchdown pass. The big play of the drive was a 31-yard pass play from Weidner to Geilenfeldt.

Manogue would answer right back with Dixon going 46 yards for his third touchdown of the game and pushing the edge back up to 28 points.

The Tigers couldn’t keep up and were forced to punt on their next possession. Manogue was pinned at their 12-yard-line but marched down the field with Dixon scoring from seven yards out to make it 48-14 going into the half.

The Miners would get the game to running clock after they took the opening kickoff to the second half and scored. Douglas struggled in the second half turning the ball over three times. And the Tigers couldn’t catch a break. The Tigers appeared to have a touchdown when Krueger took a handoff, got spun down but landed on a Manogue player, regaining his balance and racing toward the end zone. What would have been a 68-yard score was called a six-yard gain as the officials ruled Krueger was down. Four plays later, the Tigers turned the ball over.

Geilenfeldt had four catches for 69 yards to lead the Douglas offense. Douglas fell to 4-3 and 2-1 in Sierra League play. Manogue improved to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in league.

The road doesn’t get much easier for Douglas as they travel to Damonte Ranch to take on the league-leading Mustangs at 7 p.m. Friday. Damonte defeated Carson 70-7 on Friday night.