Douglas football drops 33-7 game at Spanish Springs

SPARKS — Spanish Springs scored three times in the first 7:12 of the third quarter to surge ahead and take a Northern 4A contest from the Douglas Tigers on Friday.

The Tigers entered the second half in a 7-7 tie, but fell 33-7.

The second half quickly became the Parker Luthy show.

Starting the third quarter deep in their own territory, Tiger quarterback Isaac Shaver was intercepted by the Cougars’ Luthy at about the 10-yard line. Luthy took the interception in for a score and gave the Cougars a 13-7 lead after a blocked point after attempt.

Douglas tried to stop the momentum but turned the ball over after a fake punt attempt on a fourth-and-3. Spanish Springs took over at the Douglas 48-yard line and scored on a 11 yard touchdown by Luthy, who was at running back. The score was set up after a 37-yard pass play from quarterback Tristan Szabo to Mason Bebout. A failed 2-point attempt gave the Cougars a 19-7 lead.

Two possessions later, Luthy would recover a Shaver fumble and return the ball about 35 yards to set up another Cougars score. Shaver scrambled for a nice game before fumbling. Szabo connected with Jordan Dudick on an 6-yard pass play to give the Cougars a 26-7 lead with 4:48 to play in the third quarter.

Szabo would add a 20-yard run in the 4th quarter to cap the scoring.

Spanish Springs went up 7-0 at the end of the first quarter when wide receiver Trey Hummel pulled in a Szabo pass. The play appeared to draw an offensive pass interference call, but the officials picked up the flag. The score came on a fourth-and-7 play for the Cougars.

Both teams struggled to gain much momentum in the first half. Douglas turned the ball over on downs early in the content. The Tigers then were on the receiving end of an interception that was credited to the Tigers’ Gabe Foster. Foster did a fine job of shielding the ball clearly bouncing off the grass from the officials. Douglas took possession at their own 1-yard line but were unable to capitalize on the break.

The Tigers were able to tie the game at 7 in the second quarter on a fourth-and-7 play. Shaver faked the hand off to Trevor Kruger and rolled out, but threw back across the field to Kruger who went 21 yards for the Tigers only score.

Kruger was bottled up for most of the day by the Cougars defensive front. The Tigers leading rusher, was limited to about 55 yards on 17 carries, unofficially.

Shaver had a couple of big pass plays to Kruger and Isaiah Geilenfeldt, but for the most part the Cougars kept pressure on the sophomore quarterback. Shaver completed 7-of-18 passes for about 85 yards, unofficially.

The Tigers fell to 2-3 on the year. They have a bye week before beginning Sierra League play on Oct. 4 at home against Wooster. It will be the Tigers’ homecoming game.