High school football: Rabbits hop past Union to advance

DELTA — The Delta Rabbits had some frustration to vent following last week's tough regular-season ending loss to Juan Diego.

That spelled bad news Saturday for the Union Cougars in the first round of the 3A state football playoffs. The Rabbits erupted for 34 first-half points and coasted from there to thump the Cougars 41-12.

"We were hoping to get out and get a good start on them, and that's exactly what we did," Delta coach Russ Henrie said.

From the opening kick, the Rabbits had the Cougars in a hole and didn't let up until after the halftime intermission. Whether running or passing, the Rabbits had Union's number. The Cougars, on the other hand, struggled to get anything going. The two teams played fairly even the final two quarters, but Delta already had the game well in hand by then.

In the first half alone, in which the Rabbits jumped out to a 21-0 lead after one period and extended it to 34-0 at the break, they racked up 255 yards of total offense compared to only 58 for Union. In the Cougars' nine first-half possessions, they punted five times and turned the ball over the other four.

"We feel like we have a good football team when we simplify things and break it down to fundamental blocking and tackling," Henrie said.

Delta's first two possessions started deep in Union territory, compliments of a stiff breeze blowing at the Cougar punter. On the Rabbits' first drive, Derek Peterson gained the first 29 yards on six carries before Zach Oppenheimer finished it off with a 2-yard dive. Delta's next drive took only two plays, with quarterback Wyatt Warnick perfectly feeding Josh Eliason for a 22-yard TD pass.

Minutes later, following a 55-yard run by Oppenheimer, the Rabbits went up 21-0 on another 2-yard dive by the Delta fullback.

Union finally managed a first down on its fourth drive, but shortly after crossing midfield, Eliason ended it with an interception. On the very first play of the second quarter, Delta went ahead 27-0 on a 9-yard TD toss from Warnick to Darbin Nielson. A 24-yard scoring run late in the half by Cory Finlinson made it 34-0.

The Cougars finally got on the board in the third on 5-yard TD toss from Gauge Smith to Zach Trujillo, but Delta came right back with a 22-yard TD romp right up the middle from T.J. Ross. The Cougars got the best of the second half when Smith connected with Kaden Richard over the middle for an 8-yard scoring strike with 29 seconds remaining.

Delta advances to face Morgan on the road in Round Two next weekend.

"They're tough-nosed up there, and it should be a good battle," Henrie said.

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E-mail: jimr@desnews.com