File photo

Never underestimate the advantage of having a good kicker in high school football.

On Friday night, in a tightly-contested showdown where neither offense was able to really get going, St. Bernard’s senior Tyler Hinrichs nailed three of four field goal attempts at Del Norte to help lead the Crusaders to a 16-0 win and end an eight-game losing streak to the Crescent City school.

The victory was SB’s first ever over the Warriors in the Big 4 since the Crusaders joined the larger schools conference in 2018.

The Crusaders had not beaten Del Norte since a non-conference showdown in September of 2017.

The win keeps the Crusaders unbeaten on the season at 7-0 and lifts them to 3-0 in the Big 4 halfway through the conference schedule as they look for a first-ever outright Big 4 title.

The shutout loss was the first for the Warriors since the 2021 North Coast Section playoffs and leaves the five-time defending conference champions with a very difficult task if they are to make it six straight.

They dropped to 1-2 in conference and 4-3 overall.

Both defenses played well and gave their respective teams an opportunity to pull out the victory, allowing just one touchdown combined on the night.

But it was the foot of Hinrichs that really made the difference.

The outstanding senior opened the scoring on a 39-yard field goal in the first quarter

The Crusaders would add to their tally on a 66-yard TD pass from quarterback Trenten Hagler to Kuron Devlin and the visitors carried a 10-0 lead into halftime.

Hinrichs would add two more field goals in the second half, the first from 49 yards out and the second from 27 yards.

He has now kicked seven field goals on the season, including a 51-yarder against Hoopa last month.

File photo

The road victory over a team that has had their number in recent years leaves the Crusaders in prime position to win this year’s Big 4 with three games remaining.

While the Warriors were unable to really get much going on offense, there were some bright spots.

Jason Murphy continues to play well at linebacker and had another productive game, while quarterback Kanyon Starkey grounded out some tough yards with a gutsy performance.

The Warriors also were forced to play much of the game without standout running back William McCovey, who was injured last week and tried to give it a go but featured very sparingly.

The SB defense finished with five sacks.

The shutout victory was the third in seven games for St. Bernard’s this season.

St. Bernard’s also won the JV game, 26-21.

With the win, which was their first in conference play, the young Crusaders improved to 1-2 in the Big 4 and 5-2 on the season.

Del Norte dropped to 0-3 and 3-4.

Next week, the Warriors will host Fortuna, while the Crusaders will play Eureka at the Redwood Bowl.

File photo – Tyler Hinrichs