By Ray Hamill — A tough year for the Hoopa Warriors football team hasn’t been without its positives, including the play of a core group of senior players.
While the team has struggled to a 1-8 record and goes into this week’s season finale riding a seven-game losing streak, the seniors have been doing their best to set the tone for a young and shorthanded roster and help to set the program up for future success.
On Friday night, before they hosted the Eureka Loggers in their final home game of the year, the Warriors honored those seniors, a group that includes Saul Peralta, Logan Hulbutta, Kekoa Moon, Micah Robinson, Brian Billings and Josh Moon.
All of them, according to Rice, have made some notable contributions this season and have helped the team face the adversity head on.
No one more so than Peralta, who has been a consistent presence for the team in the trenches and is enjoying a good final season on both lines.
According to Rice, Peralta has been the anchor on both the offensive and defensive lines and arguably his team’s most consistent player all year.
“He’s my go-getter and I’m going to miss that guy,” the Hoopa head coach said. “He’s going to be tough to replace.”
Peralta, who is a team captain, has two interceptions this year, an impressive stat for a lineman.
Hulbutta, meanwhile, has seen limited game time but made his presence felt in a big way in the weekend 33-14 loss to Eureka.
He scored one of his team’s two TDs on a pass from junior quarterback Torin Billings in his first game of the year.
After starting on the team as a sophomore, Hulbutta has been battling injuries over the past two seasons, but was finally cleared to play against Eureka.
And his presence on the field has been missed.
“He’s probably the most dynamic player out there,” Rice said of the versatile playmaker.
Kekoa Moon is a team captain along with Peralta and the senior receiver/safety played a key leadership role on the team before going down with a season-ending injury..
“He leads by example,” Rice said. “He does all the right things.”
Josh Moon also has played a key leadership role, and was described by Rice as “one of the key returners on this year’s team.”
He has seen a lot of playing time on a team that had just 11 varsity players available for the home finale, starting on both sides of the ball, and he enjoyed a productive night in the final home game, scoring one of the two TDs, also on a pass from Torin Billings.
But that isn’t all he’s brought to the team.
“He’s essentially another coach on the field,” Rice said.
Robinson and Brian Billings each also made their presence felt this season.
Robinson had a late interception in the weekend loss and has done a good job staying positive during a difficult campaign.
“He’s just a super good kid and it’s great to have him out there,” Rice said of the influential defensive back. “He’s willing to do whatever we want him to do.”
Likewise with Brian Billings, who has contributed in more ways than just with his play.
“He’s got a lot of good energy and he’s always staying up,” Rice said of the lineman, who starts at center and plays both ways. “It’s good to have him around. I just love that guy.”
The Warriors will play their final game of the year at Ferndale on Saturday afternoon.
Kickoff has been moved up to 1 p.m. because there will not be a JV game.
With just 11 varsity players available last weekend, Rice has called up several JV players to help fill the void, many of whom enjoyed good varsity debuts in the loss.
And Rice will be hoping for more of the same this weekend as the Warriors look to build some momentum heading into the offseason.
