Football: Douglas rolls against Wooster

The Douglas football team got exactly what it was looking for Friday night against Wooster - a fast start, a nice win and a good tune-up for next week's crucial league matchup with Manogue.

The Tigers got touchdowns from four different players in the first half as they cruised to a 39-7 win over Colts.

Coach Mike Rippee, who called his team out after its third slow start of the season last week at Damonte Ranch, had high praise for his squad Friday night.

"I think they responded really well," Rippee said. "I gave them a day to think about things, which is something I've never done before. I just wanted them to appreciate what they get to do out there - get back to enjoy the competition, their teammates and a great game.

"We were focused on getting a quick start tonight. We wanted to execute and play hard. We got some points on the board and after that it was an opportunity to get a lot of guys in the game."

Douglas was without quarterback Zack Williams for the second week, and standout running back/linebacker Johnny Pollack was out with an injury suffered against Damonte Ranch, but the remainder of the team stepped up.

Senior Lucas Peterson tossed a pair of touchdown passes, one to Austin Neddenriep to open the game and another to Luis Pina-Duarte.

The Tigers also got long rushing touchdowns from Jordan Cruz and Ryen Ake and a fumble recovery from Austin Neddenriep that he advanced into the end zone.

The remainder of the scoring in the game came on a 32-yard field goal from

Nikolai Vasquez and a first-quarter safety when Wooster snapped the ball out of its own end zone.

"We did what we wanted to do tonight," Rippee said. "They played with some emotion and some passion. That's exactly what we wanted to see. We had a full stadium for homecoming and we wanted them to enjoy it and have fun. They listened and they did exactly that."