On Saturday, November 23rd, the 2019 Del Norte Warrior Football team climbed on the backs of their offensive and defensive lines, and rode their way into school history after powering their way to defeating the Moreau Catholic Mariners in the 2019 CIF NCS Division V semi-final play-off game.
The Moreau Catholic Mariners, who traveled to Del Norte High School from Hayward, CA came into the game with a big team with speed and power. On a cold crisp November night, the Warrior line neutralized the Mariner attack by forcibly controlling the line of scrimmage through out the game.
The Warriors kicked to the Mariners to start the game and the Mariners wasted no time showing their strength and game plan as they started their offense from their own 40 yard line. The Mariners handed the ball to their junior running back Devin Arnold #11 who came into the game with over 800 yards of rushing on the season. But the Warrior defensive line stood up the Mariner offensive line and plugged the holes forcing the Mariners run game to the outside to stretch the Del Norte defense. Again the Del Norte speed beat them to the edges forcing a Mariner punt after 3 plays.
The Mariner defense returned the favor after the Warriors started their offense on their own 31 yard line forcing a Warrior punt three plays later.
The rest of the 1st quarter was much of the same, both teams attempting to assert their game plan as both teams held their own. Until the 4:00 minute mark of the 1st quarter, when the Warrior offensive line opened a hole for junior running back #21 Levi Cox Cooley. Cooley, who came into the game boasting over 1,000 yards of rushing on the season, burst through the hole and broke off a 20 yard run putting the ball on the Mariner 45 yard line.
The Warrior offense put together a long sustained drive, opening holes for their running game and pushing the ball down to the Mariner 1 yard line as time ran out of the 1st quarter of play. Moments into the 2nd quarter, Warrior senior quarterback #12 OJ Calleja followed his left guard on a dive into the endzone, putting the Warriors up 7-0 early in the 2nd period.
Another Warrior defensive 3 and out put the ball back in the hands of the Del Norte offense, who again put together a long sustained drive that pounded the Mariners in the trenches. The Warrior offensive line over-powered Moreau Catholic with a steady diet of the Warrior running game that wore the Mariners down after an 8:00 minute drive that resulted in a 3 yard rushing touchdown by senior fullback #20 Kobe Mitchell giving the Warriors a 14-0 lead with under a minute left in the first half.
But the Mariners weren’t done, taking the kick-off and returning it to the Del Norte 25 yard line before calling a time-out with just 22 seconds remaining in the half. On 3rd and 11, the Mariners broke away, getting the ball to the Del Norte 1 yard line before stopping the clock with 7 seconds left in the half. In a dramatic goal line stand, the Warriors denied the Mariners, who’s scoring attempts fell short by inches in the endzone as time ran out in the first half of play.
On the Warriors first possession of the second half, the Del Norte offense put the ball on the ground and a hungry Mariner defense pounced on the loose ball, giving them the early turnover they needed trailing 0-14. Seconds later, Mariners feature running back #11 Devin Arnold ripped off 42 yard run into the endzone, making the score 7-14 with 10:00 minutes left in the 3rd period.
Momentum followed on the kick-off for Moreau Catholic as a receiving mistake by the Warriors on the Mariner kick-off pinned the Warriors deep in their own end, forcing them to start the offense on their own 18 yard line.
This is where the Warriors took the first steps into Warrior football history as the Del Norte offensive line and running game handed the Mariners a steady dose of a ground pounding running game that the Mariners knew was coming, but could not stop.
The Warriors threw the ball less than 5 times in the entire game, as they controlled the rest of the 3rd period driving again inside the 5 yard line for another Warrior quarterback dive into the endzone by #12 OJ Calleja, making the score 21-7 with under 4:00 minutes in the 3rd.
A now desperate Mariner team took the kick-off and put together a long drive eating over 4:00 minutes of the 3rd period and driving the ball inside the Warrior 5 yard line. In yet another dramatic defensive goal line stand, the Warrior defense turned away a Mariners touch down once again, breaking up plays in the Mariner backfield and forcing the Mariners to turn the ball over on downs after 4 shots at the endzone from inside the 5 yard line.
As time ran out on Moreau Catholic the Warrior defense applied more pressure, taking risks and attacking the Mariner offense before plays could develop. Pinned deep in their own end, the Mariners attempted to punt out of trouble, only to have the punt blocked by the Warriors and returned 5 yards into the endzone. This put the Warriors up 28-7, finished the Moreau Catholic Mariners season, and launched the 2019 Del Norte Warriors Football program into their first CIF state title division V championship game in the schools history.
The 11-1 Warriors will travel to Hayward CA to take on the 11-1 Encinal Jets Saturday, November 30th, at Hayward High School at 7:00pm for the 2019 CIF NCS Division V Championship.
