Above, Cale Kynett carries the ball against Carson in 2013. Kynett will be one of the Tigers' leaders on offense and defense. Below, TJ Duzan finishes off a catch against Hug. Photos by Ron Harpin/www.rahphotosnv.com
Tigers open season VS. SPARTANS
by Joey Crandall
The Douglas High football team gets to put an entire offseason's worth of hard work on the field of play Saturday morning as the Tigers take on the Minico (Idaho) Spartans at Idaho State University's Holt Arena in Pocatello as part of the Rocky Mountian Rumble.
Douglas and Minico kickoff at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time. The game will be broadcast live with streaming video on www.IdahoSports.com
“We're exited about getting to play and getting the opportunity to make this trip,” Douglas coach Ernie Monfiletto said. “These kids have put a ton of time in to improve and get better this summer. We're hoping this is a chance for that hard work to begin to pay off.”
Douglas is coming off a 2-8 season during which four games were decided on the final drive.
The Spartans went 5-5 last year.
“They were young last year and they bring a lot of
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kids back who got some great experience last year,” Monfiletto said. “They run a Wing-T offense out of the shotgun, similar to Carson at least last year. They like to spread the ball around and make you defend the whole field. It's a great challenge to start the year.”
Douglas took on McQueen in the lone preseason scrimmage for both teams. While score wasn't kept, the Tigers had bright spots in every facet of the game.
“We were able to work some kinks out,” Monfiletto said. “I thought we ran the ball well. We improved a lot on our passing game this week in practice. On defense, we did a good job running to the ball which is the most important thing I saw. There were a lot of encouraging things we saw.
“It was a good first step, but there is still a lot to work on.”
Douglas will have a number of key players starting on both sides of the ball, including running backs/linebackers Kaleb Foster and Cale Kynett.
“Our key to success is figuring out how to manage the personnel as far as playing time,” Monfiletto said. “We'll learn a lot about what that will look like this week.”