Douglas High’s Cole Smalley lunges to make a shoe-string tackle against North Valleys Friday night in the Class 5A Div. III North regional semifinals. Smalley ended the 47-0 win with a pair of sacks and a blocked punt.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
Douglas High football’s defense continues to be unmatched in Northern Nevada.
After a 47-0 shutout win over North Valleys in the Class 5A Div. III North regional semifinals, the Tigers broke the school record for consecutive scoreless quarters set in 1963.
It wasn’t the only program record that fell in Friday’s regional master class as the Tigers also broke the school record for defensive touchdowns score, following an Owen Evans pick-six with 5:22 remaining in the second quarter.
Five consecutive shutouts matches the previous program record set in 1963 as well.
The dominant performance puts Douglas in the Class 5A Div. III regional championship game against Galena Friday night at 6 p.m.
Douglas High School will host the regional championship game.
The Tigers won their first meeting against Galena, 51-21, and haven’t given up a points since that game was played on Sept. 22.
“We just have to get prepared for Galena,” said Douglas head coach Kyle Mays. “We didn’t face a couple of those guys last time and they’re going to be ready. We have to play our best.”
More records broken
Knocking off two program records would be a noteworthy night in general, but there was more Tiger dominance at hand.
Going into Friday night’s game, Douglas had also matched the 2006 program record for takeaways in a season with 33.
It was Evans’ pick-six that broke that record, demolishing three school records on a single play.
“At first, I thought I was going to have to make a tackle on him. I saw the ball was underthrown and I took it from there,” said Evans. “The confidence is through the roof with our defense right now. It’s really motivating.”
The interception was the Tigers’ 24th of the season, breaking the 2006 record of 23 INTs in a single season.
It also put Douglas up 34-0 with 5:22 to go in the first half.
Douglas only added to the defensive mayhem with a Kyle Koontz strip sack that was scooped up by Zachary Westbrook.
Koontz went on to record another sack and senior captain Cole Smalley added two more of his own.
“It’s crazy. We’ve never gone super far in the playoffs. It’s really crazy right now,” said Evans.
Jackson takes care of business
Did you think Douglas only broke records on defense?
Senior tailback Connor Jackson was a wrecking ball in the opening half, carrying the rock for 207 yards and three scores, unofficially.
He tallied a fourth touchdown with 8:18 to go in the third quarter to put Douglas up 41-0.
Going into Friday’s night game, Jackson had tied the 1997 program record with 27 rushing touchdowns.
Tack on four more and Jackson stands alone at the top of that list.
On the ground, the senior needed 54 yards to eclipse the 2004 school record.
He ended the night with 223 rushing yards, unofficially, taking his tally to 2,114 yards this season.
He will have at least one more chance to keep adding to those records.
The Tigers’ offensive line continued to be tremendous and even got fullback Andrew Strand involved for a score.
With 9:54 left in the second quarter, Strand escaped for a 47-yard touchdown run into the end zone.
Owen Evans connected with Trace Estes for a 64-yard touchdown as the final score of the game.
With confidence riding high, Douglas faces one more test before potentially getting a shot at a state title.
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