Warriors lose heartbreaker 34-28

Fall to Huskies on the road in Big 4 action

FORTUNA — A terrific performance came up a bit short for the Del Norte High varsity football team.

After getting blown away in their first meeting 47-8 on Oct. 16 at home, it was a different story Friday night as the Warriors took Fortuna to the wire in a 34-28 loss on the road.

With the score knotted up at 28  each late in the fourth quarter, an odd set of circumstances took place.

First, the Warriors turned the ball over at the 45-yard-line of Fortuna.

On the first play for the Huskies they fumbled the ball and gave it right back to the Warriors.

Del Norte returned the favor and coughed up the ball right back to the Huskies. But Del Norte was able to contain them and forced a 4th and 14 situation. Fortuna completed a pass and on the next play scored from 12 yards out.

The kick was blocked and the Warriors got the ball back with 48 seconds remaining but were unable to score as the Huskies picked off a pass with 17 seconds left as Del Norte fell by six points.

Things started out well for the Warriors. They received the ball first and marched down the field. A key was senior running back Christian Alexandre, who had several nice runs although the Warriors eventually stalled. But it was a long possession with the Huskies getting their hands on the ball for the first time with 5:24 left in the quarter at the Fortuna 40-yard line.

A short time later the Warriors got a golden opportunity when Greg Kirby scooped up a fumble and got the ball at the 31 of Fortuna. Yet as has been the case most of the year the Warriors could not capitalize.

In the second quarter the Warriors got on the board first  when Kirby scored on a two-yard run to take a 6-0 lead.

Later in the quarter Fortuna started to take off thank to senior running back T.J. Rice, who ran for more than 30 yards for the score. The point after was good and Fortuna took the lead at 7-6.

Alexandre had a run of 44 yards to around the 10-yard-line of Fortuna. A short time later the Warriors cashed it in on a four-yard dash by junior running back Brandon Kakitsuka with 7:16 left in the quarter. On the two point play Del Norte scored to take the 14-7 lead.

Later in the quarter Rice was at it again as he grabbed a screen pass, broke a tackle and rumbled for a 76 yard score to knot things up at 14-14 after the extra point was good for Fortuna.

 The Huskies had a 70 yard run and scored on a four yard play a short time later with 1:19 left in the quarter as the Huskies took a 21-14 lead into the half.

At the start of the third quarter things did not start well for the Warriors when Rice took the ball to the 43-yard line of Del Norte. 

But the Warriors stopped the Huskies and got the ball back on their own 34-yard line. 

The Warriors kept running the ball, were efficient and moved the pigskin down the field to around the 32-yard line of Fortuna.  Later in the quarter Kakitsuka had another four-yard score with 3:56 left to get the Warriors within a point.

Del Norte decided to go for two points and the lead but the the conversion was stopped as the Huskies held on to the one point lead.

Later in the quarter Husky sophomore quarterback Brady Shaha caused trouble for the Warriors by running for a 30  yard touchdown near the end of the quarter as the Huskies took a 28-20 lead. He came into the game to replace injured senior signal caller Matt Johnson.

In the fourth quarter, with the Huskies moving down the field Rice coughed up the ball and Barrick Sala of Del Norte  picked up the ball and raced down the field for 42 yards and the score to get the Warriors  right back into the game.

Going for two the Warriors scored on a run by Alexandre to tie things up at 28-28 with 8:13 left in the game.

The Warriors dropped to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the Big 4 while Fortuna improved to 7-2 overall and 3-2 in the Big 4

In the junior varsity game the Warriors earned its second win of the year by downing the Huskies 22-7.

 Del Norte ends the season at home next Friday and will face currently winless Arcata at 7:30 p.m. at Mike Whalen Field. The Warriors cruised to a 48-0 victory on Oct. 23 and had seven rushing touchdowns.