Mountain Madness set for Friday night

Outside of graduation, no other event signifies the onset of summer in Carson Valley like Mountain Madness.

The Douglas High School Block D lettermen's club began hosting the event in 1999 and in the time since it's grown by leaps and bounds.

The annual hallmark of the event is the Powder Puff football game which pits junior girls against senior girls and draws crowds upwards of 2,500 people.

The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday night.

"It's become a serious deal," Block D advisor and Douglas football assistant coach Ernie Monfiletto said. "It's a really exciting night every year. Football is something I have a passion for, and that the guys coaching the teams have a passion for.

"It's neat to share that excitement with these girls. They have started taking this game every year as seriously as the games the guys play in the fall. It's exciting and it's probably the biggest crowd these girls have ever gotten to play in front of."

Historically, it's also been an even matchup. The seniors hold the overall edge in the series at 6-5, but the juniors have won the last three contests. No class has won both their junior and senior seasons since the class of 2006 and only two classes in the series' history have swept both years.

The last five matchups have been decided by 16 points or less, with three of those being decided by six or less.

"I don't know if there's ever been a real blowout," Monfiletto said. "It's always been a really tough battle."

There are 89 seniors playing this year, compared to 58 for the juniors. Douglas defensive coordinator Brent Eddy is coaching the seniors along with David Housel, TC Estes and Marc Walling while offensive line coach Joe Andrews is coaching the juniors with Steve Gustafson.

The teams are given just one week of practice to establish plays and personnel, but Monfiletto said the level of play come game night is exceptional.

"It just shows how much smarter girls are than guys," he said with a laugh. "They listen, they pick it up and they are intent on being successful. They play some good football with a lot of emotion out there."

Admission for the event, which also serves as Douglas High students' first chance to pick up their yearbooks, is $5. A tug of war contest will start at 7:30 p.m., a milk chugging contest starts at 8 p.m. and a lip synching contest starts at 8:30 p.m. Yearbooks will be available for pickup at 4 p.m.

The Douglas High All-Sports Boosters will run the snack bar and members of the Washoe Tribe will be on hand to sell Indian tacos.

All proceeds from the event go toward funding improvements to the school and to Block D scholarships.

"We appreciate the faculty and staff for volunteering to do this evening every year," Monfiletto said. "It's been great. We consistently have more than 80 percent of our faculty there and they have been a big part of why this has become such a successful event."