Football: Peterson runs wild in win over Carson

Douglas High senior tailback Brock Peterson ran for 343 yards, believed to be a school record, and three touchdowns Thursday night as the Tiger football team used a big second half to blow past rival Carson 48-20 in Carson City.

Carson led twice in the game, 6-0 and 12-7, before the Tigers rolled out 34 unanswered points to run away with the game.

"We did what we had to do," Douglas coach Mike Rippee said. "We knew they were going to be ready to play and Carson stepped up and played hard.

"They had nothing but pride to play for and they did a great job in the first half."

The Senators got on the board with 29 seconds left in the first quarter when Mitch Hammond swept wide to the left for a four-yard touchdown.

Peterson and the Tiger offensive line then put together the first of what would several impressive drives on the night.

Peterson carried the ball on each of the next five plays before breaking loose on a nice cutback up the middle for a 44-yard touchdown, completing a 65-yard drive in which he accounted for every yard.

"He'll be the first to tell you, those guys up front were creating huge holes up front," Rippee said. "He's got great instincts and he did a great job of finishing the play tonight. He's just getting better every game."

Peterson got plenty of help with solid blocking from Mike Colyer, Trevor McCarthy, Parker Robertson, Curtis Hartzell, Jordan Volk, Kevin Emm, Jeff Nady and the lead fullbacks in particular.

"Brandon Lowrand and James Lanier both did great jobs leading the play tonight," Rippee said. "That got Brock loose on quite a few plays."

On Carson's next drive, quarterback Chris McBroom found Hammond wide open behind the Douglas defense for a 55-yard touchdown pass to put the Senators up 12-7.

Douglas answered back quickly with a five-play drive that ended with quarterback Tim Rudnick hitting Lowrance with a screen pass. Lowrance caught the ball and skirted the sideline, going 44 yards for the touchdown while getting a big downfield block from receiver Zack McFadden.

Douglas got back down to the Carson 16 with time dwindling in the half, but turned the ball over on downs, ending the half.

Douglas senior returner Will Sheerin ran the opening kick of the second half 74 yards back to the Carson 19 and after three Peterson carries, Lowrance punched it in from a yard out for the 21-12 lead.

"We got that kickoff return from Will and that set us up for the quick score," Rippee said. "That got us going."

The Tigers forced a three-and-out on defense and scored two plays later on an 83-yard pass from Rudnick to McFadden.

Rudnick finished the game with 162 yards and two touchdowns through the air and McFadden had three receptions for 100 yards.

After forcing another punt from Carson, Peterson accounted for all but four of the Tigers' ensuing 88-yard scoring drive. He finished the drive off taking the ball off-tackle and back up the middle for a 50-yard score.

On Douglas' next drive, he again accounted for every yard of a 63-yard drive, finishing it off with a five-yard run untouched to the left.

Peterson's total is the most on record at The Record-Courier. The previous known best was a 270-yard game by John Ithuburu against Whittell in 1965.

With Douglas' reserves in on defense, Carson picked up 61 of its 237 passing yards on the next two plays as McBroom threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to draw Carson back to 41-20.

Douglas answered right back as Nico Barker scored his first varsity touchdown after a nine-play, 56-yard drive to complete the scoring on the night.

McBroom led Carson with 237 yards passing and 60 yards rushing. Hammond ran for 34 yards and had 64 yards receiving.

Defensively for Douglas, Sean Peralta came up with two interceptions and Andrew DeWitt had another, all in the first half. Forrest Scott, Nady, Emm and Hartzell each had sacks in the game.

Next week Douglas hosts either Spanish Springs or Reed in the first round of the playoffs with a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday night.

"It's a whole new season now," Rippee said. "We obviously have to get better at certain things. We made some mistakes tonight and we need to get better.

"Both teams we might see are quality teams, with quality coaching staffs, so we'll have to be ready."