Bay Area challenge for DN

Things only get tougher for the Del Norte High Warriors varsity football team tonight.

After being soundly defeated by Little 5 power Ferndale 47-6 last Friday at home the Warriors (1-1), have to travel all the way to Pleasanton in the Bay Area to meet a formidable Amador Valley (2-0) squad.

When asked what his team needs to do this evening against the Dons, Warrior head coach Bob Hadfield simply said “survive.”

“We just got to keep it simple,” Hadfield added. “We need to control things, not make mistakes and capitalize on mistakes they make.”

The Dons came to Crescent City last season and won handily 52-15.

Amador Valley is a Division 1 school, the largest division in the state compared to Division III for the Warriors. The Dons play in what is considered one of the best football conferences — the East Bay — in the entire state. The Dons are currently 2-0.

While only throwing for 91 yards the team had three passes for scores. In the running game Kean Stancil rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns.

Things went even better for Amador Valley when they faced Mt. Eden on the road on Sept. 18, winning 58-0.

While the Dons only threw for a total of 43 yards they passed for two touchdowns. The running game rumbled for nearly 300 yards, including 103 yards by Dalton Turay.

On defense, Amador Valley allowed only 32 yards passing and 73 yards rushing.

Tonight’s game will be the Dons first home game of the year.

Hadfield said he does not know much about Amador Valley but said he knows that they are a good team from a top-notch conference.

He said against a squad like the Dons the Warriors must do a much better job against the run. Last week against Ferndale, Jacob Coppini ran for more than 250 yards for the Wildcats.

“We got to stuff the run,” Hadfield said. “Ferndale ran it right up the middle too easily.”

Hadfield said Amador Valley will face De La Salle next week in the first conference game of the year for them.

De La Salle has been a major football power for years and is considered not only one of the best teams in the state but in the nation as well.

Hadfield said that he believes the Dons will be overlooking his team and says if his squad gives an excellent effort, plays mistake free ball and is able to  play efficiently on both offense and  defense, he feels that his team can have a good showing against the Dons.

“We need to play all four quarters and see what happens,” Hadfield said.

The Warriors left Crescent City Thursday morning so they would not have to travel on the day of the game.

The JV contest begins at 5 p.m  and the varsity game at 7:30 p.m.

The game is scheduled to be broadcasted on KPOD, located at 97.9 on the FM dial.