Aurora – For openers, the Douglas County Huskies are glad theirs is completed.
Officially, the Huskies, defending champions in Class 5A and ranked No. 1 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, downed host Gateway 37-8 Friday night in their Week 1 debut, a Continental League game at Aurora Public Schools Stadium.
They also won their 14th game in succession, tops in 5A.
However, as could be expected, they need additional work and realize the window for improvement is wide open.
“It was kind of weird,” Douglas County coach Jeff Ketron said. “It was the first game and we needed to do a lot of things better. But we got it out of the way and, hopefully, we’ll improve.”
Said senior tackle Ethan Adkins, who has verbally committed to play next season at the University of Colorado: “We had some effort, but we need to play better. Defensively, we played OK. Offensively, we had some moments.”
After a lethargic beginning, Douglas County put the game away with a 25-point binge over a 6:24 span in the second quarter.
Junior running back Ryan Misare scored from 64 yards out to get the Huskies going, who then made Gateway pay for a lost fumble two plays later. Taking over at the 18-yard line, Misare, who had 132 yards rushing by halftime, ran it in from the 9 for his second touchdown.
Douglas County’s third touchdown, a 54-yard flea-flicker from Cameron White to Mike Whitney, made it 18-0. It was set up after the Huskies stopped the Olympians on fourth-and-3 – then quarterback Keiffer Garton scored from 14 yards a play after Gateway’s second lost fumble of the quarter.
Down the stretch, Garton connected with Kaither Holiway on a 41-yard touchdown pass, then substitute Jose Astorga capped the scoring with an 18-yard scoring run.
Gateway’s only answer came with 5:35 to play on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Randy Revere to Andrew White to cap an 84-yard drive.
Douglas County rolled to 405 yards of offense, 251 rushing. Misare, who will be the Huskies’ featured rusher, finished with 132 yards on 18 carries.
But 10 penalties, four botched conversion attempts and assorted other miscues had Ketron telling his team afterward that a team’s biggest improvement usually occurs between the first and second games.
Next up for Douglas County: At No. 9 Arapahoe on Friday.
As for Gateway, its fight was good, but little depth and multiple players going both ways is something they must get used to – they dressed 37 players.
Douglas County 0 25 0 12 – 37
Gateway 0 0 0 8 – 8
DC – Misare 64 run (kick failed). DC – Misare 9 run (pass failed). DC – Whitney 54 pass from White (Geipel kick). DC – Garton 6 run (run failed). DC – Holiway 41 pass from Garton (kick failed). G – White 4 pass from Revere (Gordon run). DC – Astorga 18 run (kick failed).
