Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Saturday night’s game at McKinleyville High School.

By Ray Hamill — The Hoopa Warriors got a much-needed win over the weekend to keep their playoff hopes alive in football.

The Warriors traveled to McKinleyville and posted their first conference win in a close game by a score of 22-14 on Saturday night.

The win ended a two-game losing skid for Hoopa, which improved to 1-2 in the Little 4 and 3-4 on the season.

The loss for the shorthanded Panthers, who had just 11 players for much of the game, was the team’s seventh of the season as they dropped to 0-7.

However, the win was far from comfortable for the visitors and both teams were tied 14-14 at the interval after a back-and-forth opening half.

The Warriors broke the early deadlock midway through the first quarter when Allen Kane capped a nice drive with a touchdown on a QB sneak.

Hoopa would miss on a two-point conversion run, and the Panthers would respond almost immediately when senior Kaden Waugh scored on a 43-yard TD run just a few moments later.

Another missed two-point conversion attempt, however, left the two teams tied at 6-6.

It didn’t take the Warriors to re-take the lead. Less than 90 seconds after Waugh’s score, Donald Hostler ran in for a touchdown and Kane’s two-point conversion pass to receiver Brandon Romero put Hoopa up 14-6.

Check out Donald Hostler’s TD run for Hoopa below …

The Panthers added a second TD midway through the second quarter when Ruger Baxter scored on a QB sneak run, and Jeremiah Smith added a two-point conversion to once again leave the two teams tied.

Neither team was able to get much going on offense for the remainder of the half as the two defenses grew into the game.

But it was the Warriors who dug that little bit deeper in the second half, with Chergeesh Mace finding the end zone on a 24-yard TD reception from Kane, which turned out to be the decisive score.

Several juniors stepped up for the Warriors, including Kane, who had over 200 yards of offense.

Kane completed 10 of 12 passes for 177 yards, a TD and no interceptions, while also rushing for 42 yards on eight carries.

As a team, the Warriors rushed for 156 yards on 29 carries (a 5.4 yards a carry average), with Hostler leading the way.

The standout junior had nine carries for 82 yards and also had two receptions for 10 yards.

Mace also had 32 yards rushing on eight carries, while Romero pulled in four catches for 57 yards.

Another Hoopa junior, Daniel Peralta also had a productive night running the ball and added 60 yards on a pair of carries.

For McKinleyville, Steven Graves has been a continual bright spot all season despite his team’s struggles and he finished with three sacks on the night.

“We played well,” McKinleyville head coach Fel Barlow said. ‘The kids played their hearts out.”

Both teams will continue conference play this weekend.

Hoopa will entertain Ferndale and McKinleyville will host Little 4 leaders Arcata, with both games scheduled for Friday night.