Reagan Roberson (50) attempts to block a punt against North Valleys on Sept. 5 in Reno.
TIGERS COME HOME TO FACE RENO
by Joey Crandall
Attention to detail has been the focus this week in practice as the Douglas High football team prepared for Friday night's home-opener against Reno (kickoff at 7 p.m.).
“We have to take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves,” Douglas coach Ernie Monfiletto said. “We have to eliminate the mental errors we saw last week and stay focused. We are simplifying things a bit for the kids this week and let them get back to playing the game full speed.”
In last week's 42-7 loss to North Valleys, Douglas gave up 343 rushing yards and another 110 through the air.
“North Valleys was ready to play and I don't believe we were at our best,” Monfiletto said. “We weren't fast to the ball on defense like we were against McQueen (scrimmage) and Minico. First couple weeks, when we made mental errors, our speed to the ball made up for it.
Continued on page 7
Friday night, when we made errors, they were really glaring.”
This week, Monfiletto said Reno will bring a big and physical team in looking to spread the Tiger defense out.
“They are very multidimensional and run a lot of different looks out there at you,” he said. “You look down on the field with them and it looks more like a chessboard, just people all over the place. They are trying to get you out of position and we're going to try to keep things simple and eliminate the mistakes.”
Douglas was right in it with North Valleys, trailing 14-0 and driving inside the Panther 5-yard line. A costly fumble, though, turned into a 14-point swing after North Valleys drove back down for a score and the 21-0 lead.
“That was nothing less than lack of focus on our part,” Monfiletto said. “It's defeating and emotionally draining to get that close and then have it turn back on us for a score. Those are the types of things we are looking to fix this week.
“We feel like we are right in it and are just looking to get better Friday night.”
Continued on Page 7