Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com
By Ray Hamill — Del Norte’s remarkable run in Big 4 football continued on Saturday night, as the Warriors clinched at least a share of a fifth straight conference championship.
The Warriors traveled to the Redwood Bowl and beat an in-form Eureka Loggers team convincingly by a score of 22-7.
The win was the Warriors’ sixth straight as they improved to 2-0 in the Big 4 and 7-2 overall.
They can clinch the conference championship outright with a win at St. Bernard’s in their regular-season finale next weekend.
One week after dominating St. Bernard’s, the Loggers had no answer for a relentless Del Norte ground attack, which wore down the home team as the night went on.
The visitors opened the scoring on a safety late in the first quarter and they never trailed after that.
They added the first of their three touchdowns for the game early in the second quarter when quarterback Aidan Rice connected with Tobias Meyer on a 20-yard scoring pass.
A Greyson Franklin PAT stretched the lead to 9-0.
However, the Loggers looked up for the challenge early in the game and they took full advantage of a 70-yard kickoff return by Cole Zellar just moments later to start their third drive of the night at the Del Norte 20.
Six plays later, quarterback Kyle Johnston opened Eureka’s account with a four-yard TD run and the home trailed 9-7 midway through the second quarter.
But the Warriors would add to their lead before halftime, driving the length of the field on their next possession as their relentless ground attack began to find its groove thanks to another big performance by their offensive line.
Check out Tobias Meyers’ TD reception from QB Aidan Rice below …
Check out Will McCovey’s three-yard TD run above …
Will McCovey capped the scoring drive on a three-yard TD run and another Franklin PAT put the visitors up 16-7 at the break.
Neither team was able to score in a third quarter that was marred by penalties, as an otherwise cleanly played game began to get a little sloppy.
In the fourth quarter, Warriors senior running Ben Borges began to take over as the Del Norte O-line continued to wear down the Loggers defense.
Borges, who had 122 yards rushing for the game, racked up 60 yards on the ground in the final quarter, scoring on a 17-yard TD run to put his team up 15 points and end the game as a contest.
He averaged 4.8 yards a carry for the night.
McCovey also had 30 yards rushing.
But while the Del Norte ground attack impressed and caused the home team problems throughout, it was the Warriors defense that really set the tone and played a pivotal role in the win.
The Warriors held the Eureka offense to just one touchdown for the second time in three weeks, having also won a non-conference matchup against them on Oct 18 by a score of 7-6.
The Del Norte defense has grown in stature as the the season has progressed.
Over their last six games, the Warriors defense has allowed just 32 points combined, including posting two shutouts.
Only the Fortuna Huskies, whom the Warriors defeated 21-12 last week, have managed to break single digits in scoring against them.
It was also the Warriors’ eighth straight win over Eureka as they continue to dominate the rest of the Big 4 teams.
Since 2019, the Warriors have compiled a remarkable 16-1 record in Big 4 games, with their only loss in that time coming at Fortuna in their conference finale last year.
There were no official conference games in the COVID-shortened season of 2020, which took place in the spring of 2021.
Check out Kyle Johnston’s TD run for Eureka below …
But other than that, the Warriors have put together a dominating run that has included undefeated Big 4 championships in 2019, 2021 and 2022, while sharing the title with both Fortuna and St. Bernard’s in 2023.
Both Fortuna and Eureka remain in the chase for a share of this year’s championship depending on how next week’s games go.
If Del Norte wins at St. Bernard’s, then the Warriors will be crowned outright champs no matter what else happens.
If, however, they should lose at SB, then the winner of next week’s Eureka and Fortuna game in Fortuna will share the championship.
Even if that happens, however, the Warriors will receive the league’s automatic North Coast Section playoff berth and a probable home playoff game in the first round, courtesy of their head-to-head results against Fortuna and Eureka.
The Loggers fared better in Saturday night’s JV game, beating the Warriors 19-0.
Also on Saturday, in the Little 4 Ferndale defeated McKinleyville 56-0 in a varsity matchup.
Check out the Del Norte safety below …
