FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL — Warriors answer the call at Fortuna; Panthers seal the deal

By Ray Hamill — The Del Norte Warriors are headed to the North Coast Section playoffs and the McKinleyville Panthers are outright champs of the Redwood League.

The final Friday night of the regular season was a big one here on the North Coast with two huge showdowns.

The Warriors traveled to Fortuna and came away with a thrilling 21-20 victory over the Huskies in a game they needed to have to ensure playoff qualification.

The victory not only keeps their season going but also secured a share of this year’s Pacific League championship, the program’s sixth in the past seven full seasons.

The Huskies are co-champs with the Warriors, and we could yet see a three-way tie for the title for the second time in four years if St. Bernard’s wins at Eureka on Saturday night.

If that happens, then the three schools would be co-champs with identical 2-1 league records, which also happened in 2023.

At McKinleyville, meanwhile, the Panthers left no doubt with a 21-0 win over Arcata, capping a memorable breakthrough regular season with a league championship, the program’s second in five years.

With the win, the Panthers improved to 7-3 overall and 3-0 in league play and guaranteed themselves the league’s automatic berth for the NCS postseason and a probable home game in next week’s opening round.

Well have much more on the Panthers’ big win on Saturday.

A third scheduled local game for Friday night was canceled when Elsie Allen was unable to play at South Fork in eight-player football and had to forfeit to the Cubs.

With the win, South Fork closed out the regular season 7-3 overall and 3-2 in the NCL II.

The Cubs will also advance to next week’s NCS playoffs.

Check out freshman Elijah Brunson’s two big TD catches from Friday night …

The big game of the night, however, took place at Husky Field and was a back-and-forth showdown between two schools that know each other about as well as any in the H-DNL and have combined for the past seven Pacific League (formerly Big 4) championships.

And it was a game that was not decided until the final 90 seconds.

A defensively-dominated first half left the two teams tied 7-7 going into the break, but both offenses would grow into the game and enjoyed far better second halves.

The visitors would score touchdowns on their first two possessions of the half to take a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

But with eyes on securing the league title outright, the Huskies would pull within one on a 29-yard Easton Essig touchdown run with 3:36 remaining in the game.

Head coach Mike Benbow, however, opted to go for a two-point conversion and the play came up short, leaving the home team trailing by one.

The Warriors would recover the ensuing onside kick, but handed the ball back to Fortuna on downs just four plays later with a little under two-and-a-half minutes remaining.

A huge 28-yard completion from quarterback Will Shaw to receiver Cameron Mclendon gave Fortuna possession at the Del Norte 20-yard line with plenty of time.

But a fumble moments later that was recovered by senior team captain Ricardo Borges gave the ball back to the Warriors, and they were able to hold on down the stretch to seal the victory.

Fortuna’s three touchdowns from Friday night’s game …

With the win, the Warriors closed out the regular season 5-5 (2-1 in league), while the loss for the Huskies, which was their second straight, dropped them to 7-3 and 2-1 in league.

Both schools will now advance to the NCS playoffs, with the brackets and seeds set to be announced on Sunday.

There were never more than seven points between the two teams.

The Huskies enjoyed the better of exchanges in the first half, piecing together some nice drives, although only one of them resulted in a score.

After stopping a short Del Norte drive on downs to open the game, the Huskies drove all the way from their own 39 to the Del Norte 10, but the Warriors defense would come up with a big stop to take over on downs.

Neither team, however, was able to get much going on offense immediately after that, with the next four drives combined resulting in just one first down.

A poor punt by Fortuna would give Del Norte excellent field possession for the team’s fourth drive of the night, and the Warriors would take full advantage, quickly marching 34 yards on four plays and scoring the opening touchdown of the game on a 30-yard pass from quarterback Trent Cronk to freshman receiver Elijah Brunson.

The Huskies would get their breakthrough late in the opening half.

Mclendon recovered a Del Norte fumble with 1:36 remaining in the half and they quickly marched 64 yards on just six plays, scoring on a 12-yard TD pass from Shaw to Essig.

Del Norte’s Dustin Starcher scores on a short TD run …

A Gregory Fitzgerald PAT would leave both schools tied 7-7 going into halftime.

The Huskies got the ball to start the second half and would drive 61 yards on eight plays, taking their first lead of the night on a 19-yard TD pass from Shaw to Braden Timmerman.

But with their playoff hopes on life support at that stage, the Warriors answered the call in emphatic fashion, scoring touchdowns on back-to-back drives.

They drove 59 yards on seven plays — a drive that was keyed by a 29-yard Max Borges reception — and found the end zone on a one-yard TD run by Dustin Starcher.

After the Del Norte defense held the Huskies on downs on the ensuing drive, the team offense went right back to work, piecing together their most impressive drive of the night and retaking the lead on a 28-yard TD pass from Cronk to the very impressive Brunson.

The freshman standout is enjoying an outstanding debut season at the varsity level and gives the Warriors the sort of red-zone weapon they have not had in recent years.

Essig scored his second TD of the night six minutes later to pull the home team within one, but the decision to go for two would prove decisive.

With a shared championship, there will be a coin flip on Saturday to decide which of the two or three co-champs receive the league’s automatic berth for the upcoming NCS playoffs.

We’ll have more on Friday night’s big game and coaches’ reaction on Saturday.