said. “It was a good eye-opener just in seeing some things we need to work on, and also seeing how far we have come. It gives us a lot of confidence to be able to pull through when it got tough.
“Our mindset is to never give up and never let anything get us down. We are always looking to come back no matter what the score is. We have a lot of guys who work hard in practice, and coach is always telling us that the way we practice is the way we’ll play. We just like playing hard and we aren’t afraid of adversity.”
Minico got on the board first on a 36-yard pass following a Douglas fumble 10 minutes into the game. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 6-0.
The Tigers answered right back with a 67-yard catch and run by Cale Kynett who took the pass from Abreu across the middle for the touchdown. Douglas converted the extra point for the 7-6 lead.
Abreu finished the game with 8 completions on 15 attempts and 134 passing yards. He rushed for an additional 110 yards on 18 carries.
Early in the second quarter, Kaleb Foster tipped a Minico pass to himself and returned the interception 90 yards for the touchdown. The kick missed, leaving Douglas with a 13-6 lead.
Minico answered with a 65-yard bomb and converted the two-pointer for the 14-13 lead.
On the next drive, Kynett rumbled for a 33-yard touchdown and Foster punched in the two-point conversion for the 21-14 Douglas lead.
Kynett caught two passes for 73 yards in the game and rushed for 152 yards on 21 carries. Foster had four carries for 18 yards and three catches for 33 yards.
Douglas’ Adrian Gonzales kicked a 30-yard field goal on the first drive of the second half to extend the Tiger lead to 24-14.
Douglas lineman Andrew Jensen, who had 7.5 tackles on defense and some big blocks on offense, was named the game’s MVP, winning a $1,000 scholarship.
The award was presented to Jensen by Billy Hodge, the brother of former Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Merrill Hodge.
“Billy was really struck by Andrew and his effort,” Monfiletto said. “It was nice to see him get recognized like that. A lot of guys played hard out there.”
TJ Duzan had one catch for 12 yards in the game as Douglas rolled up 425 yards of total offense. Foster had seven tackles defensive as the Tigers held Minico to just 13 yards on the ground.
“We ran the ball hard. We were able to throw the ball when we had to. We still have a lot of work to do. Cale did a great job just kind of rolling over people when he carried the ball. He showed some speed on the screen pass. We saw a lot of good things today. Now we have to build on it.”
WEEK 1 RECAP
It was a rough week for the Northern Division I as only Douglas and Hug emerged with wins.
Reed, already in its second week due to the Sollenberger Classic, came up just short against Clovis North (Calif.), losing 19-16.
Carson ran into a buzzsaw against one of the top programs in Northern California, Clayton Valley Charter, losing 55-7.
Hug made short work of Fernley, winning 48-14 in its first game under new coach Carl LaGrone, Jr.
Bishop Manogue lost to Idaho's Bishop Kelly 42-6, Inderkum defeated Reno 19-3, Elk Grove, Calif., thumped Damonte Ranch 55-7 and Lassen walked past Galena 33-7.
North Valleys stayed close with Lowry but lost 33-28.
This week presents some interesting matchups, all non-league.
Douglas Stats vs. Minico
Passing
Abreu, Nick
Receiving
Foster, Kaleb
3-33-0
Kynett, Cale
Duzan, TJ
1-12-0
Rushing
Kynett, Cale
Abreu, Nick
Foster, Kaleb
Tackling
(Solo-Ast-Total)
Foster, Kaleb
Jensen, Andrew
TEAM STATS:
OFFENSE:
DEFENSE