Fortuna’s potent ground attack continued to impress in their victory at McKinleyville on Friday night, led by junior Tiki Bolden.
The Huskies got back on track with a 40-27 win over the Panthers, improving to 3-1 on the season two weeks after losing to Ukiah in their last game.
And Bolden played a pivotal role in that, rushing for 140 yards on 19 carries and scoring a pair of touchdowns.
“It was a good battle and I’m happy to get out of there with the win,” Fortuna head coach Mike Benbow said afterwards. “I felt like we came out in the first half and we did kind of what we wanted to do, we controlled the line scrimmage.”
The Huskies played the game without senior quarterback Will Shaw, whom Benbow is hoping to have available again for next week’s game at Arcata.
In his place, sophomore Easton Essig continued to play a big role for the team.
Essig completed 3-for-8 passes for 52 yards, a TD and an interception, while also rushing for 60 yards on five carries and another TD.
As a team, the Huskies racked up 286 yards in the ground on 39 carries and scored four rushing TDs.
Jaxon King had 30 yards rushing on three carries and also scored a TD, while Cayden Free added 47 yards on 12 carries.
All three of Essig’s completions went to different receivers, including Braden Timmerman, who scored on a 39-yard reception.
Kye Hawthorne also had a pick six in the win.
