HANFORD - Little Daniel Durbin can walk around Han-ford High next week with a bit of extra swagger.

The 5-foot-6 defensive back helped lead the Bullpups to a 9-7 victory over West Yosemite League rival Redwood and that snapped a 12-game losing streak that dated back to 1993.

Redwood dropped to 0-4 on the season Friday at the Neighbor Bowl partly because it tried to pick on the "little guy".

"I want them to pick on me," said Durbin, who picked off a two passes, broke up a potential touchdown pass and made a TD-saving tackle.

"I like the challenge," he said.

The Hanford defense pitched a first-half shutout and helped the struggling offense get on the board when Josh Nixon blocked a Jared Cruz punt and Derek Sanchez tackled Cruz in the end zone for a safety.

The Bullpups (1-0 in league, 3-1 overall) gave up 315 yards of offense but stopped the Rangers in the red zone five times.

"It's hard to say anything, because we got the end result that we wanted," said Hanford coach John Clark. "Our defense pulled it out at the end. Our offense made it tough for them, though."

The Hanford offense managed just 226 yards, playing without star back Avery Horn, who is nursing an sprained ankle.

"The defense just played real hard for us tonight. They pulled up their socks and went out there and got it done in style," Clark said. "This is a big win for this football team. They need to know that they can win without Avery and that's not a knock on Avery at all. It's just that one player does not make a football team."

But one player certainly stole the show against the Rangers.

In the first half, Cruz broke free and up the right side line, but Durbin chased him down and tripped Cruz up at the 33-yard line to save the score.

"I was just trying to catch up from the back side and just chop his legs down," Durbin said.

On the same series, on a fourth-and-goal play from the Hanford 16-yard line, Durbin stepped in front of a Brett Brodersen pass and knocked it away to save a score.

Later in the half, he intercepted a pass with Redwood threatening once again.

"They came out and put the big boys on him and tried to get some miss matches," Clark said. "We have some smaller defensive backs and they've been in position all year, but haven't made the plays. Durbin really came up and made the big plays tonight."

Redwood took the lead 7-2 in the third period on a 73-yard touchdown pass from Brodersen to Aaron Ray.

But Hanford came back early in the fourth quarter and made it a 9-7 game. On a fourth-and-six play from the 8-yard line, Devarious Bennett took an option pitch from Tyson Perez and plunged over a tackler and into the end zone.

Redwood marched down to the Hanford 14-yard line and tried to pick on Durbin once again, but Durbin came up with an interception in the end zone.

The Bullpups didn't get anything going offensively and punted and the Rangers again moved into scoring position. Cruz put together back-to-back runs of 10-plus yards to move the ball down to the Hanford 21.

But like most of the night, Hanford's defense stiffened. Cruz was stopped for a 1-yard loss, Phillip Vargas gained just two yards on a run to bring the down and distance to 3-9 from the 20.

Brodersen was sacked on third down by Richard Davis for a loss of five yards and on fourth down Brodersen threw an incomplete pass.

The Bullpups ran out the final 1:04 to preserve the win.

"I thought our defense really did a great job," Durbin said. "We pitched a shutout in the first half and had just the one bad play in the second half."

The Bullpups take on city rival Hanford West next week. The Huskies (0-1, 0-5) will host the fifth annual game.

In junior varsity action, Redwood beat Hanford 14-7. The Bullpups' Andrew Buenrostro scored on a 2-yard run.

(Sept. 23, 2006)