TRICITY — A pair of close losses in the previous two weeks made a lopsided victory that much sweeter for the Douglas High football team on Friday night.

Seven different ballcarriers helped the Trojans rack up 330 rushing yards and 374 yards of total offense against South Umpqua, and Douglas earned its first win of the season with a convincing 34-7 Far West League triumph over the Lancers on a wet and sloppy Loghry Field.

“Even during pregame warmups, we knew that we’d have to work twice as hard in that mud out there,” senior wide receiver Cody Walton said. “There was no footing out there. You definitely had to dig in, and we did.”

That’s for sure. Douglas (1-6, 1-2 FWL) controlled the line of scrimmage on offense, running more running plays (53) than the Lancers had total offensive snaps (51). And that ball-control game plan paid off for a team that, after a 20-19 loss to Brookings-Harbor and a 21-14 overtime loss to Sutherlin, is just a couple of plays away from having an unblemished league record.

“We should have had those games, but we came up just a little short,” said Andrew Neilsen, who rushed for 70 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “Getting this victory really gave all of the guys the kind of feeling we’ve all been working for.”

The victory also snapped the Trojans’ three-game losing streak to the rival Lancers (1-6, 0-3 FWL), whose last loss to Douglas also came at Loghry Field during the 2003 season. Douglas ended a 12-game league losing streak dating back to 2004.

David Ingram finished with a team-high 97 yards rushing, Tyler Clark ran for 49 yards and junior varsity player Sky Woods added a 22-yard touchdown run for Douglas.

“We’ve got some real good north-and-south runners who, in this mud, can do some real positive things for us,” Douglas coach Rick Taylor said. “We have some kids who can run well toward the sideline as well. But we started running the ball toward the end zone a little more tonight, and that was pretty beneficial to us.”

Junior running back Bo Younker rushed for a game-high 148 yards for South Umpqua, which trailed 21-0 at halftime. The Lancers finished with just 210 total yards — 138 on the ground — and couldn’t generate a whole lot of offense until their final drive of the game.

But the Trojans’ ground attack frustrated the Lancers most of all.

“Coach Taylor’s pretty smart, and they have a couple of films on us where they can figure out our weak spot,” S.U. coach Kevin Hubbard said. “Our weak spot this year has been when people run right at us. We prepare for it every week and we rotate kids in, but we’re young up front and we don’t have that big body to fill those gaps.”

Douglas, however, found those gaps and ran right through them from start to finish.

The Trojans laid a big blow on the Trojans’ morale on their opening drive, going ahead to stay with 7:52 left in the first quarter on Andrew Neilsen’s 5-yard run and Bryson Norton’s point-after kick. Douglas went up 14-0 on a 4-yard quarterback option run by Jacob Neilsen after Norton’s blocked punt set up the Trojans’ scoring drive on South Umpqua’s 19.

Andrew Neilsen spun into the end zone from 6 yards out for a three-TD cushion for the Trojans, but the Lancers looked ready to strike back. South Umpqua drove from its own 25 to the Trojans’ 11, but three consecutive incomplete passes by quarterback Ryan Smedley gave the ball back to Douglas.

The wet and muddy field conditions helped South Umpqua lose 13 yards on its next possession, and Douglas took over on the Lancers’ 23 after a muffed punt. Three plays later, a 20-yard TD jaunt by Isaiah Taylor made it 27-0.

Woods scampered into the end zone with 5:47 remaining to cap the Trojans’ scoring. Younker capped South Umpqua’s last drive with a 19-yard touchdown run to help S.U. avoid the shutout.

South Umpqua continues league play next Friday when the Lancers host Siuslaw. Douglas will host North Bend Friday.

Douglas 7 14 0 13 — 34

S. Umpqua 0 0 0 7 — 7

1st: D — A. Neilsen 5 run (Norton kick), 7:52. 2nd: D — J. Neilsen 4 run (Norton kick), 6:35; D — A. Neilsen 6 run (Norton kick), 1:26. 4th: D — Taylor 20 run (kick failed), 11:25; D — Woods 22 run (Norton kick), 5:47; SU — Younker 19 run (Hunt kick), 2:22.

Doug. S.U.

First Downs 20 14

Total Net Yards 374 210

Rushes-Yards 53-330 37-138

Passing Yards 44 72

Comp-Att-Int 3-7-0 7-14-1

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 3-1

Punts-Avg. 1-39 2-25.5

Penalties-Yards 4-30 1-5

• You can reach sports reporter Jon Mitchell by e-mail at jmitchell@newsreview.info, or by phone at (541)957-4219.