By Owen Prothro
owenprothro@gmail.com

HAVEN, Kansas — Sometimes, the immediate response to a big win is more important than the win itself.

After Douglass beat defending Class 1A State Champions Conway Springs a week ago, while playing nearly perfect football, the Bulldogs had a chance at earning back-to-back wins for the first time since the 2022-23 season.

Instead, Haven toppled Douglass in the district opener, 31-20.

The Bulldogs (2-2) made 10 penalties Friday night and lost two fumbles during the loss — one on their own goalline for the game’s first touchdown.

“We took a big step forward last week against Conway,” Douglass head coach Drew Carder said. “We told them, the hardest game to win is the game after the big game. I thought we were a little bit flat to start, some mental errors. We just have to keep working on that.”

Douglass’ senior Justin West did pull down two interceptions, both in the second quarter, to even out the turnover margin but the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize from either of them. 

After West’s first pick, the Wildcats (4-0) forced their second fumble of the half. West’s second interception resulted in an eight-play drive for Douglass that fizzled into a punt.

The Bulldogs showed fight throughout the game, however, as a team that’s relying heavily on their junior class put together multiple drives that lasted 10 plays or more. Douglass was able to score its touchdowns during two of them.

During a whopping 19 play drive that spanned the last five minutes, 28 seconds of the first quarter and bled into the second, junior Bronsyn Knisley punched in a 26-yard touchdown reception even after the Bulldogs committed back-to-back penalties. An extra-point conversion gave Douglass the lead, 8-7.

Junior Carter Green scored Douglass’ second touchdown in the third quarter on a 19-yard catch and run from junior Kane Ast at quarterback, 17-14. Green scored the Bulldogs’ last touchdown on a four-yard pass from Ast, 24-20.

“I thought they showed a lot of maturity, a lot of growth, just from their sophomore year to their junior year,” Carder said of his class of 11th graders. “A lot of guys are being more vocal. We have some leaders stepping up, so it’s good to see.”

While Douglass ate up the clock on many of its drives, Haven still found ways to score in the second half — and fast.

The Wildcats’ first drive in the third quarter resulted in a 14-yard scamper for a touchdown from their running back on the fifth play of the drive. Douglass answered with Green’s first touchdown, but on the opening play of the next drive, Haven scored on a 34-yard bomb after coercing a 15-yard personal foul.

For the most part, the game came down to the smallest of details. Missed tackles on multiple plays during a drive in the fourth quarter resulted in gains of 20 and 34 yards for Haven, which essentially sealed the game. 

A two-yard touchdown run with under 20 seconds to play won it.

“I felt like we traded punches there a little bit,” Carder said. “We’d make a play, they’d make a play again. Just a couple of mental lapses in the second half cost us big.”

Next up, Douglass returns home for another district matchup against Kingman Friday night.

Haven 31, Douglass 20

Douglass  0; 8; 6; 6 — 20
Haven  7; 3; 14; 7 — 31

H — 0 yd fumble recovery Jacob Myers (Kolton Altvater PAT)
D — 26 yd pass from Ast to Kinsley (Carter Green run)
H — 30 yd FG Kolton Altvater
H — 14 yd run Cole Brawner (Kolton Altvater PAT)
D — 19 yd pass from Ast to Green (run failed)
H — 34 yd pass from Wray to Turner (Kolton Altvater PAT)
D — 4 yd pass from Ast to Green (run failed)

H — 2 yd run Cole Brawner (Kolton Altvater PAT)

Rushing: Douglass – Kane Ast 13-30; Charlie Kielhorn 6-11; Hunter West 6-22; Carter Green 25-109; Wyatt Moore 1-(2); Totals 51-170. Haven — Wray Brogan 7-20; Brawner Cole 22-189; Totals 29-209.

Passing: (cmp-att-yds-td-int) Douglass – Kane Ast 15-25-168-3-1. Haven – Brogan Wray 9-15-127-1-2.

Receiving: Douglass – Bronsyn Kinsley 3-56; Wyatt Moore 4-45; Carter Green 6-40; Justin West 1-19; Charlie Kielhorn 1-8. Haven – Patry Grant 2-25; Altvater Kolton 1-5; Turner Zade 3-59; Wilder Jaxson 3-38.