Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.co – Del Norte’s Luke King reacts on Saturday night.
By Ray Hamill — If the Warriors are the H-DNL’s version of the Star Trek Enterprise, boldly going where no other Del Norte football team has gone before, then their Captain Kirk deserves a lot of credit for leading them there.
This past Saturday, the Warriors qualified for a first-ever NCS championship game with another statement win over a quality Moreau Catholic team, advancing deeper into the playoffs than they’ve ever gone.
And head coach Nick White and his staff deserve plenty of credit for getting them there.
This is White’s first year in charge of the team after spending much of the past decade as an assistant with the program, and he has had an immediate impact in the head coaching role.
Certainly White inherited a small but talented, senior-laden roster with one or two potential Division-I prospects, particularly on defense, but talent alone is not what makes this year’s Warriors.
They are greater than the sum of their parts, a team with few weaknesses because they are a complete team, and a team that is predictable yet still wins, and that’s always a sign the coaching staff is doing their job.
You can see it at Ferndale and St. Bernard’s this year as well.
The Warriors are a complete team. They don’t pass much, but they don’t have to with their overwhelming running game, and they have few if any weaknesses on defense, with a dominating front seven and a secondary that stepped up big against the Mariners, particularly in the dying seconds of the first half.
White says his team’s success has a lot to do with the work and preparation his players put in, the way they have bought completely into what they’re trying to do, and their collective football IQ.
Once again, all of that points to the coaches, who have sold them on what they’re doing, put them in a position to win, and helped them develop that football IQ.
Their journey is one that has thrilled their fans at every step, and one where the stakes get a little higher at every step.
Just how far this team can go remains to be seen, but for now all eyes will be on Hayward High School on Saturday night as the Warriors bid for a first-ever NCS title in the sport.
Yep, coaches work hard too, make key decisions that result in success or failure.
With that written, can’t elaborate enough on how many coaches in all sports refrain from putting themselves into the spotlight, with an emphasis on the players…leave it to fair media coverage to select their quotes, comments and analyses, decide how much any coach should be propped up or down…
In soccer, many coaches did not partake in team pictures, maybe because their focus is on student athletes, not themselves…gotta like that sales pitch at the youth levels… college and pro can allow coaches to be different in their cheerleading…they recruit, they hire players…
Good Luck to DNHS, working hard to strengthen the HDNL overall…we like that!