Warriors host Loggers at home

Game set for Friday evening

 The Del Norte Warriors football squad faces the Eureka Loggers in a crucial Big 5 Conference matchup on Friday.

The game begins at 7:30 p.m. at Mike Whalen Field at Del Norte High.

The Warriors come in with a 5-1 overall record and 2-1 Big 5 mark after losing to Fortuna 55-28 on Oct. 7. Fortuna is currently in first in the Big 5 at 4-0 and has a bye this week.

Del Norte has used a bye week to prepare for the Loggers, who are 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the Big 5 after whipping McKinleyville  on Saturday 69-20.

If Del Norte wins on Friday they are still in the thick of the Big 5 race. If not, it will be that much more of a difficult road to a  conference crown.

The stakes are high for the Loggers as well. They are only playing their fellow Big 5 members once, so they must win all four games if they want the conference crown this year.

“We’re excited to be coming off the bye and being at home,” Warriors head coach Ray Rook said. “It will come down to us playing at 150 percent and executing. We have to just go out and play our game.”

Rook said the loss to the Huskies after being undefeated has been hard, but said it is now time for the team members to pick themselves up and play to the best of their abilities.

Rook said that the Loggers are a well coached, disciplined squad that is well-rounded.

They play good defense and can both run and throw the ball, Rook said.

“They are good in all facets of their game,” he said.

Rook said that Friday night should come down to execution and keeping mistakes to a minimum.

If Del Norte can play aggressively on defense and stop the Logger attack they should have a chance, Rook said.

A key player on the Del Norte offense will again be senior running back Collin Taylor. He already has more than 1,000 yards of rushing and a total of 18 scores.

The offensive line, which has good size, needs to again open up running lanes. And, when Del Norte throws, give the quarterback time to find the open man.

The defense was tough the first five games of year, pressuring the opposing offense and not giving much on the ground before giving up 55 points to the Huskies. The most points the Warriors allowed was 16 points againsts Ferndale.

A key loss for Del Norte is  senior Joseph Verdejo, a starting corner, who is lost for the year. He suffered a knee injury against Fortuna.

“I feel terrible about that,” Rook said. “He was a hard worker and bought into our program.”

Del Norte is already one win above last year’s total, with four regular season games left on the docket.

In the junior varsity contest, Del Norte is looking to continue remaining perfect. The 6-0 Warriors face Eureka starting at 5 p.m. at Mike Whalen Field.

Next Friday, Del Norte will have a rematch against Fortuna on the road.