Warriors look for first Big 4 win of the year versus Huskies

Members of the Del Norte High varsity football team before the squads season opener at home against Hidden Valley of Oregon on Sept. 11. Tonight the Warriors face Fortuna on homecoming night. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

If the Warriors (1-3) do that in their homecoming game tonight in Big 4 Conference action, Hadfield believes good things can happen for Del Norte, who have been soundly defeated for three straight games after winning their season opener.

“Hopefully we can play four quarters of good football,” he said.

In their Big 4 opener last week, the Warriors were in the game against Eureka, trailing only 14-6 after three quarters.

But in the fourth quarter things fell apart, including coughing up the ball in three straight possessions as Eureka scored 41 points in the final quarter.

Hadfield said it “was a weird feeling” to watch how quickly Del Norte fell apart in the final quarter and said he never experienced something like that before.

Fortuna is 4-1 overall and opened the Big 4 last week with a dominating 44-0 win against Arcata. All the Huskies’ points were scored in the first half.

This included Fortuna scoring on a 78-yard run on the opening kickoff.

A common opponent for both teams is Little 5 power Ferndale, whom Fortuna lost to 27-12, and the Warriors fell to 47-6.

While Del Norte has run the ball solidly this season they have been unable to get the ball into the endzone. The Warriors have been unable to score more than one touchdown in a game this year, with Hadfield saying the Warriors must be able to score more than a single touchdown in a game if they want to be competitive this year.

Warrior head coach Bob Hadfield during a game on Sept. 18. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

“We need to make good decisions and hold onto the ball,” Hadfield said.

Last week Del Norte mixed it up and ran a no-huddle offense which was quite efficient for three quarters.

Hadfield said he is open to running it again tonight and said he’s open to mixing it up and could potentially try a number of tricks up his sleeve, depending on what occurs during the game.

On the injury front, senior running back Shane Endamano, who has had a solid year running the ball for the Warriors, will not  play tonight.

Hadfield said he suffered a  lower leg injury at practice on Wednesday and was on crutches on Thursday.

On defense, Hadfield said his team must stop the run, which has been a big problem all year. Against Eureka last week the Warriors gave up 370 yards on the ground.

Hadfield said that the Huskies are an excellent running team and will “pound the ball right up the middle” and they have an excellent, quick offensive line to make this happen.

Hadfield said his team must contain the run and try to get the Huskies to throw more, which he said is not their strength and could help the Warriors.

The junior varsity game begins at 5 p.m., with the varsity game at 7:30 p.m.