On a night of bizarre twists and turns, there was one constant for the Warriors, as there has been all year long.

Defense.

And that was the difference in a very entertaining and hard-fought NorCal Regional playoff game at King’s Academy in Sunnyvale on Friday, as Del Norte came away with a 21-14 win over the home team to send the Warriors on to next weekend’s 5-AA state championship.

Nick Freeman sealed the win with an interception on the final play of the game, as the Warriors held off a desperate Knights team, appropriately with another big defensive stand.

“We keep doing what we do on defense,” Del Norte head coach Nick White said. “We stop the run, make them pass and make them one-dimensional. It seems to happen week after week.

“I think it’s the best defense in our section.”

Short drives

Judging by Friday’s dominating display, it would be difficult to argue with that assessment.

The two touchdowns the Warriors did give up both came on very short drives after they had turned the ball over deep in their own territory.

Offensively, Del Norte did just enough, with senior running back Levi Cox Cooley leading the way and rushing for 156 yards on 26 carries.

“He ran super hard,” White said of Cox Cooley. “He’s been our leading rusher all year and he was again tonight.”

Quarterback OJ Calleja found the end zone for a pair of TDs on QB sneaks, opening the scoring midway through the first quarter.

Cox Cooley added the second of the Warriors’ TDs on a nine-yard run early in the second quarter, but each time the visitors took the lead, the Knights found a way back, tying the game at 7-7 and 14-14.

The Knights stepped up their defense early in the second half and the momentum appeared to be turning their way as they also found some success passing the ball, only for the Warriors to snatch it right back when Calleja snuck in for his second TD four minutes into the fourth quarter.

Turning point

The Del Norte defense stepped up again on the ensuing King’s Academy drive, with Kobe Mitchell intercepting the ball on a pivotal play.

“That was the turning point of the game for sure,” White said of the takeaway.

The Warriors were able to run time off the clock after that, before giving the ball back to the home team on a fourth-down interception.

But they came up with yet another big defensive stand to take possession back on downs with 2:34 left.

Once again, with Cox Cooley leading the way, the Warriors were able to run more time off the clock, giving the ball back to the Knights on downs with just 11 seconds remaining.

Two plays later, Freeman came away with the Warriors’ second interception of the quarter to seal the win and send the Del Norte sideline into wild celebrations.

State bowl game

The win sets up a 5-AA state championship showdown next Saturday night in Crescent City, a first ever for the program and the community.

“It’s unbelievable,” the head coach said. “We’re elated, ecstatic. We keep going and we’re going to go until they tell us we can’t play any more.”

It’s White’s first season in charge of the program and he’s setting a standard he will find difficult to top.

Afterwards he paid tribute to his players for what they have achieved in this magical season.

“Every single kid played their hardest,” he said. “You’ve got to give credit to the whole team. Those kids are amazing. They work as hard as any team I’ve seen. More importantly, they love playing football together.”