Del Norte earns 47-13 win over Mack

Ends regular season with 7-3 record

The Del Norte Warriors cruised to a 47-13 victory against the McKinleyville Panthers on the road in the regular season finale Friday night.

Del Norte dominated on both sides of the ball and had several strong performances.

“I’m proud of the way we competed,” head coach Ray Rook said. “I’m happy with the way they executed tonight.”

This included four touchdowns by senior Austin Moore, who was out for a good chunk of the year with an injury. Sophomore running back Jordan Carpenter scored two times.

The Warriors will now wait to see who and where they will play in the playoffs next week, although it is almost certain it will be a road game.

Del Norte received the ball first and got down the field quickly. Signal-caller Julian Markussen connected with an open Aaron Fitch for a 35-yard play to the 15-yard line of the Panthers. Moore got the rock and  rumbled in from 5 yards out for the score with more than eight minutes left in the first quarter. 

The Panthers came right back. On their first offensive possession they aired it out and scored on a 75-yard play. The kick was missed as Del Norte held a 7-6 advantage with 8:26 left.

The Warriors went right back down the field. Moore scored again as the Warriors took a 14-6 advantage after the extra point was made with 5:42 left in the first quarter.

The scoring fireworks kept on going when Carpenter punched it in from six yards out following a 35-yard run by Matt Joy with 2:28 still left in the first  quarter. The kick was blocked.

In the second quarter, Del Norte scored on a 3-yard run by Carpenter. Later, Moore scored from 7-yards out with 1:38 left in the half as Del Norte took a 34-6 lead into the half.

Late in the third quarter, Del Norte was deep in Panther territory but a fumble gave the Panthers the ball back. On the next play Warrior Darien Simpson picked the ball off and rumbled all the way to the 10-yard line to put Del Norte back in scoring position.  On the next play Simpson scored from 10 yards out. At the end of the quarter the Panthers  scored on a 34-yard touchdown toss to make it 40-13 after the kick was made.

In the fourth quater Del Norte scored one more time on a 21-yard run by Moore. With the kick good, the Warriors took the 47-13 lead, which they held the rest of the way,

Del Nore finished with 313 yards on the ground and 149 yards in the air.

Del Norte ends the regular season 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the Big 5 Conference while McKinleyville fell to 2-8 overall and 0-7 in the Big 5. Also on Friday night, Fortuna defeated Eureka 14-6 to earn the Big 5 title.

With the victory, Del Norte  is guaranteed a playoff berth in Northcoast Section Division III play. The seeds and locations of the games will be announced on Sunday, with games to be played on Friday and Saturday.

“It’s a good feeling to be heading into the playoffs on a winning note,” Rook said. “The kids earned it.”

In the junior varsity contest Del Norte lost 18-0 to end the season 7-3 after winning only a single game last season.