Douglas High School Football: Started with a bang and ended with a whimper

A season starting with a 35-0 rout of Bisbee High School will end this week as the Douglas High School Bulldogs will play their final game of the season at Amphitheatre High School Friday, November 7th at 7:00 pm. The Bulldogs hope a season that started with serious ambitions of a promise can end on a high note, a win will bring the Bulldogs to a 3-7 record while moving them to 2-4 in the division.


The opening game of season versus Bisbee had the Bulldogs optimistic about the future of their season, "Playing Bisbee means a lot," Douglas assistant coach Gus Eniquez said. "It was electric, and the kids went out and took it to them.”


Eniquez comments after the game showed his high hopes for a dominant Douglas offense and a fiery defense this season, “The difference in the game was the offensive line holes for the running backs,” he said, “Our defense shut them down and forced four fumbles."


Douglas plays in the tough Class 4A, Division II, Gila Region where four of the conferences seven teams have winning records. Still the team does obtain respect from opponents and is known as a school that should not be overlooked.


"Any time you go down to Douglas, you know they're tough; got to bring your A-game,'' Catalina Foothills High School Falcons coach Matt Johnson said after beating the team 29-0.


Johnson admits the score of the game does not reflect the will and determination of the Douglas Bulldogs on the field, "They did a good job being prepared, we brought our best and luckily we came out on top.”


Still the difficulty of the Bulldog’s schedule cannot be overlooked. When looking at the very difficult schedule they had to play I could not help but notice that the combined record of the 7 teams the Douglas Bulldogs lost to was 43-21. By High School football standards that is an extremely difficult schedule.


They managed to play in one season: A first place in their division 9-1 Palo Verde Team, a first place in their division 7-2 Cienega team and a 2nd place in their division 8-1 Santa Rita team.


Even the Nogales Apache football team who we have covered extensively on this blog rolled in as Arizona Border Sports favorite Andy Garcia ran for 316 yards of total offense and scored 4 touchdowns in the Douglas Tiger’s 34-16 loss at Nogales.


Still there is optimism to be found in the individual highlights that came along the season. The Douglas team is full of youth. Junior Quarterback Carlos Teran led the team in passing yards with 304 yards, including a 9/18 153 yard 3 Touchdown game versus Rio Rico.


Sophomore A.J. Acosta led the team in rushing with 209 yards and a 7.0 yard a carry average during the season. His personal best game was versus Bisbee where he managed to rush for 77 yards on ten caries and score a touchdown. Junior Joel Bello led the team in receiving yards with 100 and a 14 yard a catch average.


After such a tough schedule and with all of their team leaders returning there is hope in Douglas for a much more successful campaign in 2009. All of their youngsters have had a chance to develop and have seen the best competition Arizona has to offer, next season can start with a bang and end with a bang.