CRESCENT CITY >> The rain and wet field didn”t seem to bother Del Norte High School one bit. The Warriors, led by quarterback Steven Maready, dominated the Lower Lake Trojans every way possible en route to a 56-0 victory in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division IV football playoffs on Friday night in Crescent City.
Maready ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more as the Warriors (9-2) simply steamrolled the Trojans (5-6) in the first half while building a 36-0 lead. Lower Lake moved the ball into Del Norte territory just one time in the first two quarters but never seriously threatened.
Del Norte”s defense not only shut down the Trojans but completely took Lower Lake quarterback Isazah King out of the game. King entered play with more than 1,600 yards rushing and 934 yards passing but never had a chance to get untracked against a swarming Warriors unit, one that sacked him several times. King finished the first half with negative yards rushing.
“Del Norte is a good football team,” Lower Lake coach Justin Gaddy said. “They have a good program, are well coached and are disciplined. They played really well.”
Del Norte turned a pair of Lower Lake turnovers into early touchdowns and never looked back. Maready led the first-half charge with scoring runs of 1 and 35 yards while Chad Bell added a 9-yard run. The Warriors also picked up a pair of quick-strike scores, one on Austin Healy”s 67-yard punt return, another on a 49-yard pass from Maready to Dayton Skeen.
“We were giving up some great field position to them and you can”t do that,” Gaddy said.
Del Norte outgained Lower Lake 157-20 in a first half that began with rain falling. The rain intensified for a time before letting up, but by that time the field was thoroughly soaked, making footing a bit dicey for both teams.
As bad as the first half was for the Trojans, the second half didn”t start any better as the Warriors received the kickoff and quickly drove down the field for a touchdown, Maready hooking up with Landon McAlexander on a 30-yard pass. Maready then picked off a King pass and nearly returned it for another score before being tackled from behind inside the Lower Lake 5-yard line.
The Warriors began substituting at that point, Skeen, a sophomore, taking over for the senior Maready behind center. Jonathan Calderon, the team”s placekicker, later took over at quarterback.
Lower Lake also switched quarterbacks, going to freshman Hokulani Wickard late in the third quarter before switching back to King in the fourth.
Del Norte pushed its lead to 48-0 with 38 seconds left in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Napooi Shorty. Korey Osborne added the game”s final points on a 3-yard run with 49 seconds left. A bad snap on the extra-point try led to holder Maready”s conversion run.
James Clark had the best night for the Trojans with 29 yards rushing and two catches for 17 yards.
The Warriors were playing their first home playoff game since 2007 and had plenty to celebrate as they walked off the field caked in their field”s mud. They”ve won 12 of their last 15, including three of their last four in the sectional playoffs. Lower Lake was making its first playoff appearance since 2007 and looking for its first playoff win since 1992.
Gaddy led the Trojans to a 3-7 record a year ago, his first season at the school. This year hey finished the regular season with a .500 record and reached the playoffs.
“Some of the lessons they learned this year made them better players and better men,” said Gaddy, who added that the playoff loss, even as one-sided as it was, is just a minor blip for a program headed in the right direction.
“We”ve learned lessons all year and we”ll learn from this,” Gaddy said. “I just want to thank all my seniors who were here at the beginning and helped us turn it around. At the end of the day we”re all still Lower Lake.”
