Warriors to face the Dragons

Earn 11th seed: Game on the road on Friday at 7 p.m.

In the midst of a two-game winning streak, the Del Norte Warriors hope to keep the positive momentum going in the playoffs.

On Sunday, Del Norte earned the No. 11 seed in the Northcoast Section Division III playoffs.

The 7-3 Warriors will travel to Oakland to face the No. 6 seed, the 8-2 Bishop O’Dowd Dragons, in a first round contest starting at 7 p.m. Friday.

Head coach Ray Rook said that besides some highlights clips he saw, he does not know too much about the opponent. The Dragons are a school that plays in a tough division and Del Norte needs to perform to its maximum ability to do well against a  team of this caliber, he said.

“We’re going down there to play football and compete,” he said. “We‘ve got to be ready to play and compete at a high level.”

Rook was pleased to get the No. 11  seed in a very tough division, which is considered by many to be the best in the Northcoast Section.

The Dragons are 5-1 at home and are on an eight-game win streak. They recently won their second straight Hayward Area Athletic League title by defeating Division 1 opponent San Leandro on Thursday, 48-26. The Dragons had 412 yards in the first half alone, including over 300 yards of passing.

The Warriors began the year 5-0 before a three-game losing streak.

Rook said that after the losses he told his team it was a new season and believes they are playing a lot better the past two games and hopefully are peaking at the right time.

 The Warriors dominating 47-12 win at  McKinleyville this past Friday and its 20-12 win against Arcata the week before has certainly helped his teams confidence heading into the playoffs, Rook said.

“We want to build on that,” he said.

Senior running back Collin Taylor has been nursing a muscle strain since the Eureka game on Oct. 21 and has played in spurts since that time. 

Taylor, who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 20 total touchdowns sat out against McKinleyville.

On Monday, Rook said it is still too soon to know Taylor’s availability.

Sophomore Jordan Carpenter, who has played well at running back, including two touchdowns against McKinleyville, hurt an ankle in the contest.

On Monday, Rook said his availability is still up in the air.

Carpenter said he will have an X-ray today. If it’s not broken he hopes to attempt to play.

While he would love to play on Friday, he said he and his teammates are excited with the opportunity to continue the season with a playoff berth, regardless, he said.

“We need to be ready, go out and know we can’t take a play off,” Carpenter said.

This is the second straight year Del Norte has earned a playoff berth. Last season, the No. 16 seed Warriors faced top seed Marin Catholic, who are the top seeded team again this year. Del Norte lost the game 32-0.

The name Bishop O’Dowd may be familiar to boys basketball fans. Del Norte has faced the Dragons the past two years in the NCS playoffs. This includes a second-round home loss this past season.

A total of seven Humboldt-Del Norte Conference teams earned playoff berths. In the Big 5 all but McKinleyville earned playoff berths.

In Division III, Eureka earned the No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 seed El Cerrito on the road Friday night. Big 5 Champ Fortuna earned the No. 3 seed in Division IV and will host No. 14 Middletown at home on Friday. Arcata earned the No. 12 seed. Little 4 champ Ferndale earned the No. 2 seed in Division IV and has a first round bye.