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North Coast Section teams should never underestimate Del Norte football.
On Friday night, the Warriors saw another memorable season end with yet another gritty performance, falling 14-7 at top-seeded Moreau Catholic in Hayward.
But one week after the Mariners dominated St. Bernard’s in their playoff opener, the Warriors gave them all they could handle and almost pulled off what would have been a huge road playoff upset victory.
The Warriors were clearly the better team in the opening half and used their physical brand of football to piece together three long, time-consuming drives to impose their will on the game, including a possession that lasted eight minutes.
Unfortunately for the Big 4 champs, a pair of fumbles deep in Moreau Catholic territory would prove costly and saw then come away empty handed on two of those drives.
They still led 7-6 at halftime thanks to a 16-yard touchdown run by senior Curtis Bartley, but they were unable to find the end zone for the remainder of the game
The home team added a second TD in the third quarter and that would prove the difference in a tight game.
“I thought the kids did a really good job,” said Del Norte head coach Darren LaFazio, who has led the Warriors to back-to-back conference championships in his first two years in charge. “We were just driving it right down their throats, and we ended up fumbling. We were dominating in the first half.”
It didn’t help matters when influential team leader Will McCovey was forced to the sideline with a foot injury in the opening half.
McCovey, who has become a key member of the team, would return on defense but was unable to play again on offense for the remainder of the game.
LaFazio described the standout junior running back as a player who is “as tough as they come.”
In his place, Bartley stepped up and had a big game, as did Ben Broges, who has been one of the top running backs in the H-DNL this fall and played like it once again on Friday.
“Ben Borges was an absolute monster in the first half,” LaFazio said “He just killed it.”
So too did linebacker Colton Schaad, who has been a force for the Warriors all season and one of the team’s defensive leaders.
“Schaad had the game of his life,” LaFazio said. “He was really good.”
Despite the loss, the Warriors enjoyed another stellar season, winning a fifth straight Big 4 championship.
And as big underdogs on Friday, they gave the top seeds in the bracket a big scare.
“I’m proud of my kids,” LaFazio said. “They’ve got a ton of grit. Nobody thought we’d ever be that close.”
No team in the H-DNL showed as much improvement this fall as the Warriors, who grew in stature on both sides of the ball after a shaky start as they adapted to a new offensive system.
“We came together as a team,” LaFazio added. “I think the players bought into what we are doing and I think we had a great season from where we started to where we ended. Yeah it sucks losing, but we won league, we won a playoff game.”
The loss ended an eight-game winning streak for Del Norte, which closed out the season 9-3.
Moreau Catholic, which improved to 8-4, will now face Ferndale in next weekend’s NCS championship game.
