Zeller's Two TDs Help Del Norte Run Past Monte Vista

Del Norte High School football coach Leigh Cole said his young team showed the personality he wants Friday night in a 36-7 pounding of visiting Monte Vista.

Cole said he was particularly pleased with the way the Nighthawks finished the game on the ground with a 12-play, 92-yard drive that chewed up 8 minutes and 36 seconds of the fourth quarter.

Sophomore sensation Patrick Zeller capped the drive with a 30-yard TD sweep around right end with 1:42 left in the game.

“That was a game-winner,” Cole said. “Most definitely, I like to keep the ball on the ground.”

It was Zeller’s second TD run of the game. He dashed 4 yards with 8:08 to go in the third quarter, a score that put Del Norte up 27-0.

With the win, Del Norte improved to 1-1 on the season. The Monarchs fell to 1-1 after the nonleague battle.

Cole went on to explain that by pounding the ball on the ground, the Del Norte offense sets up the pass, especially to the tight end. Nighthawks quarterback Dion Alexander followed his coach’s formula, pitching two scoring strikes to tight end Chad Wetzel.

Alexander hit Wetzel on an 8-yard TD strike with 8:53 left in the first quarter. Brett Mathis booted the extra point to make the score 7-0. Alexander also passed 8 yards to Wetzel for a TD that made the score 20-0 in the third quarter.

“Tight ends are big in my offense,” Cole said. “The defender covering the tight end (usually a linebacker or safety) has to stop the run and the pass. I like to say he is on an island.”

The Monte Vista defender covering Wetzel had his hands full, Cole said. If he came up to stop the run, Wetzel would blow by him and be wide open. If the defender laid back for the pass, the Nighthawks would send a running back his way.

Alexander agreed with Cole’s assessment. He said he has grown comfortable with Wetzel in the offense.

“He is one of my favorite targets,” the 6-foot-3, 185-pound junior said. “We are growing comfortable with each other.”

Sandwiched between Wetzel’s two TDs was a 14-yard touchdown run by Jared Skinner.

On defense, the Nighthawks got a big game from defensive lineman Brett Johnson, who recorded a pair of sacks. Sophomore Spencer Pennington also trapped Monte Vista QB Israel Suarez behind the line of scrimmage. Del Norte’s Adam Joyce and Chris Lopez each recovered a fumble, and Anthony Rios-Carlsen intercepted a Rios pass.

The lone offensive highlight for Monte Vista came early in the fourth quarter, when Eric Owens dashed 44 yards for a touchdown. Anthony Suarez booted the extra point to make the score 29-7 with 10:36 left in the game.

Owens also turned in a defensive highlight, intercepting a Dion pass in the second quarter and returning it 40 yards to the Nighthawks 36-yard line. But Rios-Carlsen’s interception squashed the threat.