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The Hoopa Warriors broke open a tight game with a big second half on the way to a 30-16 win at Fort Bragg on Friday night.

With the game hanging in the balance at the interval and the score tied 16-16, a relentless Hoopa running game began to wear down the home team, while the Warriors defense shut down the Timberwolves in the second half.

“We went to the power game,” head coach Floyd “Cowboy” Billings said. “We went to the jumbo package.”

And that meant a heavy dose of Andrew Hunsucker and Gerard Marshall, who grounded out the yards behind a strong showing by the O-Line.

Hunsucker and Marshall each scored a touchdown in the win, with Marshall also making a difference on the line when he wasn’t carrying the ball.

The win was the perfect response after a heartbreaking one-point loss at St. Bernard’s a week ago, and afterwards Billing praised the play of his entire offensive line.

“All five linemen played well,” the head coach said of the unit that includes Marshall, Bear Little, Donovan Lonewolf, Isaac Wilson and center Glenn Keisner.

Darvin Davis IV added a pair of touchdowns, while also making some big plays on defense, as did Lane Campbell and Jason Marshall.

“Our defensive line played well, and our linebackers made some tackles,” the head coach said. ”All in all, it was a team win. They came together and they took care of business.”

Equally impressive was the way the players handled themselves at Fort Bragg after last week’s disappointment, especially in what is traditionally a tough environment to play at.

And after some early mistakes, the Warriors quickly settled into the game.

“The boys played with poise,” Billings said.

With the win, the Warriors improved to 2-1 with one more game remaining before league play begins.

And Billings is happy with the way his team is developing and happy  that he was able to get most of his players some valuable playing time as they prepare for the Little 4.

The Timberwolves, who had shut out Healdsburg 37-0 in their season opener, dropped to 1-1.

The Warriors play at Trinity next week.