Bulldog fans had plenty to cheer about Friday as the Douglas Bulldogs celebrated their homecoming with a wild 46-26 win over the Rio Rico Hawks at Armando DeLucas Stadium.

Bruce Whetten / Douglas Dispatch Bulldog running back Oscar Rios runs into the end zone for the second of his four touchdowns Friday night in the Bulldogs homecoming game with Rio Rico. Rios would finish the night with 18 carries for 137 yards in the Bulldogs 46-26 win. Douglas is at Amphi this Friday night.

The night was especially sweet for Bulldog running backs Hector Grijalva and Oscar Rios who combined for six of Douglas’seven scores. Rios returned last week after being out the previous four weeks with a knee injury.

Both backs punished the Rio Rico defense with their tenacious running.

The win keeps Douglas, 5-3 overall, 3-2 in league play, in the hunt for a postseason playoff berth with a big game ahead this week at Amphi, 6-2 overall, 3-2 in league play.

Both Douglas and Amphi, ranked 13th and 11th in the latest power rankings, are tied for third place in the Gila Region behind co-league leaders Santa Rita and Palo Verde both 5-0 in league play.

With all the distractions surrounding homecoming coaches work hard to keep their team focused on the game at hand.

Douglas players may have been a little over confident going into the game as Rio Rico jumped on the Bulldogs early scoring twice in the first quarter taking a 12-0 lead.

Joel Bello ran the opening kickoff back 85-yards for a score but a penalty against the Bulldogs negated the score. Instead the Bulldogs were forced to settle for a first and 10 at their own 35. Three plays later the Dogs fumbled and Rio Rico was there for the recovery.

The Hawks moved the ball with some effectiveness converting a third and 14 into a 40-yard halfback option pass. Rio Rico missed the extra point and led 6-0 less than five minute in the game.

With the speedy Bello waiting for the kickoff planned or not Rio Rico booted what turned out to be an onside kick.

The Hawks were back in business. Two minutes later their quarterback was in the end zone scoring on a 35-yard run up the middle. Rio Rico again missed the extra point and led 12-0.

“We were really concerned there early on,” Bulldog football coach Dick Keith said afterwards. “We were making some mistakes early on that allowed them to score twice on us. … These were things we had been harping on all season long about being disciplined. All of a sudden we turn around and we’re 12 points down.”

Finally the Bulldogs settled down and put together a 12 play 70-yard drive that led to Oscar Rios scoring on a 10-yard run the first play of the second quarter. Mike Abrigo’s extra point made the score 12-7.

After holding Rio Rico to a three and out on its next possession the Dogs were back and two plays later Rios was back in the end zone scoring from 15-yards out. Abrigo’s extra point failed as Douglas had a 13-12 lead.

Six plays into their next possession Rio Rico fumbled and the Bulldogs were there for the recovery

Grijalva would later score on a three-yard run. Abrigo’s extra point would give Douglas a 20-12 halftime lead.

Rio Rico would open the second half with a three and out series and Douglas would need just four plays to increase their lead as Rios would score again this time on a 13-yard run.

He would later score his fourth TD of the game on a two-yard run giving the Dogs a 33-12 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, just as the Dogs were driving, Rio Rico would pick off a AJ Acosta pass and run it back 84 yards down to the one scoring a few seconds later making the score 33-18.

Grijalva would score his second TD of the night on the next series and the Douglas defense would step up shortly after that when linebacker Michael Blaskey would pick off a pass and run it back 50-yards for a touchdown giving Douglas a 46-18 lead.

Rio Rico would later score pulling within 20 after converting the two-point conversion.

Unofficially the Bulldogs had 405 yards in total offense with 252 coming on the ground and 153 through the air.

Rios would finish the night with 18 carries for 137-yards; Grijalva 11 for 84; Acosta was 7 of 10 in passing with Bello having four receptions for 74-yards and Spencer Grijalva two for 79. Diego Chavez had one catch for 27-yards.

Keith said Rios is still not at 100 percent as far as getting back into football shape but he ran hard and with a lot of heart and determination Friday night.

Defensive coach Levi Salazar said despite being down 12-0 early on he knew it was just a matter of time before the Bulldogs got on track and would shutdown Rio Rico’s offense.

Playoffs is a word Douglas fans haven’t heard a lot of over the years.

A win Friday night at Amphi and the following week at home against Cholla and the Bulldogs will secure a definite berth. Should Douglas split the next two games that will make the Bulldogs 6-4 and that still could get them into state but at one of the higher seeds.

In 2005, the last time Douglas made the state playoffs the Bulldogs landed the No. 16 seed and headed to Scottsdale Arcadia to play the No. 1 seeded Titans.

“If we can beat Amphi that will jump us up in the power rankings,” the coach said. “You can never take a Vern Friedli team lightly. You have to be able to have the players to stop that wishbone offense. I think we have the defense to do it.

Friday will also be Amphi’s Mom and Dad’s night adding a little more intensity to the game.

“We’re so very proud of this group of young men,” Keith said. “They have worked hard all summer long. We told them we want to win more than we lose and we want to get to the playoffs and those are some of our goals. So far we’re on tract.”