Warriors blank Panthers 42-0

The Del Norte Warriors put a hurting to the McKinleyville Panthers at home Friday night in a 42-0 Big 5 Conference opener win.

The Del Norte defense would not budge, harassing the Panthers all night long and the running game was unstoppable, led by senior Collin Taylor, who scored four times and rushed for 122 yards.

But he was not alone. Sophomore Jordan Carpenter also looked good with the rock, finishing with 96 yards as Del Norte had 365 total yards on the ground. Senior Bronson Richards also had his share of good runs to form a formidable rushing trio.

A Warriors fan perfectly summarized the evening early in the game when he shouted, “Pound the rock, baby. Let’s go.”

Del Norte obliged that request and then some.

After outscoring their opponents 132-31 the first three games of the year, Friday night was the first time they held a squad to zero points. The scoring through the first four games is now Del Norte 174, the opposition 31.

“We executed in all phases of the game,” Warrior head coach Ray Rook said. “We’re happy that we had limited errors. That was our focus in practice this week.”

The passing game also looked great, with senior signal caller Julian Markussen going 8-for-9 with 118 yards and a score.

The Panthers came in with a reputation as a good passing team, but that wasn’t evident Friday night, as they went 5-for-10 for 62 yards. The Panthers rushed for 91 yards on the ground.

Del Norte improved to 4-0 and the Panthers fell to 2-2.

On the first Warriors possession of the contest, the offensive line did an excellent job of opening up large holes for the runners to plow through.

Besides Taylor, Carpenter looked sharp running the ball, taking over for senior Austin Moore, who is out 2–4 weeks with a knee injury. This included a nifty 25-yard run to the Panthers’ 10.

With 9:32 left, Taylor pounded the ball in for five yards for the score.

Later, Del Norte blocked a punt, which was scooped up by sophomore Nate Porter, who ran 15 yards for the touchdown with 6:57 left. After the extra point, the scoreboard read 14-0 Warriors.

The scoring kept on going when, with 6:06 left in the second quarter, Taylor ran the ball in for six from 8 yards out.

With 41 seconds left, Del  Norte put an explanation mark on its strong first half when Taylor ran the ball 9 yards for the score as the half ended with Del Norte holding a 28-0 lead.

Rook commended his runners for the way they performed Friday night.

“They ran the ball real well and at 150 percent,” Rook said.

To start the second half it was more Warrior domination as they moved down the field at will.

With 7:50 left, Taylor ran 18 yards to score as Del Norte took a 35-0 advantage.

The scoreing kept on going when Markussen found senior tight end Darien Simpson for 30 yards for the touchdown with 7:07 left in the game as the lead was extended to 42-0 after the kick was made.

Del Norte next plays next Friday on the road against Big 5 opponent Arcata.

The JV game is at 5 p.m. while varsity starts at 7:30 p.m.