Playing on the road against a good Salesian team in Richmond in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division-5 playoffs was never going to be easy for the Fortuna Huskies.
And unfortunately for head coach Mike Benbow and his players they came up short, losing 28-13 on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies, who closed out with a record of 7-4, lost their final three games, but it was still a good season for a program that was among the best in the H-DNL all year and won a share of the Pacific League championship for the third time in four years.
“I was super proud of our kids,” Benbow said. “They battled for four quarters.”
At this stage of the year there are no easy games, and four Fortuna turnovers — two fumbles and two interceptions — proved costly in what was always going to be a tough matchup.
“We came up short and we lost to a good team,” The Fortuna coach added. “We played well, we just turned the ball over too much.”
This was a Fortuna team that featured a nice blend of experience and youth, and all of that was on full display on Saturday.
Senior quarterback Will Shaw closed out an impressive season with a TD run, while sophomore Bryce Pancoast also scored on a TD run.
“The bright spot is our boys never gave up and we fought to the end,” Benbow said. “Our tradition never graduates, and our seniors did well for us to get us on a good path.
“But we played a lot of young guys, and our young guys stepped up. Our future is very strong. I’m very, very proud of our team.”
