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The Del Norte Warriors answered the call on Friday night.
One week after falling to Arcata, the Warriors dominated in every aspect of the game on their way to a 48-0 win over Skyline in Crescent City.
They took control of the game with three touchdowns in the opening quarter — two of them coming on the opening play of a drive — and would lead 41-0 at halftime, before the officials went to a running clock after the break.
“I thought we played well, better than we’ve been playing,” head coach Darren LaFazio said. “We needed this win.”
When asked what impressed him the most about the performance LaFazio said “Just playing as a team and finally getting together as one.”
Running back Ben Borges and quarterback Aidan Rice both had big nights for the home team.
Borges got the party started with a pair of early touchdowns, finding the end zone from five yards out for the opening score and adding a 54-yard TDs run just a few minutes later.
He added a third TD early in the second quarter on a 12-yard reception from Rice.
The senior QB accounted for three touchdowns in the first half, including a pair of scoring passes.
In addition to his TD pass to Borges, Rice also threw a 17-yard touchdown to sophomore receiver Landon Ballent.
Rice also scored a TD on defense, returning an interception 60 yards to put the Warriors up 34-0.
William McCovey closed out the first-half scoring on a one-yard TD run as Del Norte widened the gap to 41 before halftime.
Senior running back Curtis Bartley closed out the scoring on a 14-yard TD run late in the third quarter.
Defensively, the home team held on for the shutout on the way to improving to 2-2 on the season.
“Our defense played well, our offense played well,” LaFazio added. “They did what they were supposed to do.”
McCovey led a very dominating ground attack that ran for 271 yards for the game.
The junior fullback finished with 105 yards rushing, while Borges added 79 yards.
Rice completed 4 of 5 passes for 54 yards and the two TDs.
Skyline dropped to 1-2.
Next up, the Warriors will try to make it two straight wins when they travel to play McKinleyville next Friday night.
