One year ago, the Arcata Tigers were battling head to head for the Little 4 league championshipwith the Ferndale Wildcats. This year, the Wildcats dominated and shattered the Tigers in a 72-0 win Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats have scored 450 points across their seven games, without letting up a single point. The Tigers went into the game with ambitions of breaking that streak, but could not contend. “We struggled, we had a lot of guys out,” Head Coach Matt Magers said. “You know missing Luke was obviously a big deal when we wanted to throw the ball, missing receivers.”
Arcata was missing a handful players, including most notably their starting quarterback, senior Luke Lemke. In addition, they were missing multiple offensive players, causing players to move positions, and resulting in multiple weak position groups throughout the field.
“It’s tough. You do the best you can with what you got, [and] they played a better game than us,” Magers said.
Ferndale started the game right off the bat, with a 29-yard rushing touchdown from senior Prescott Langer.
For the Tigers on the other hand, they could not make any plays, ultimately forcing themselves to punt on a fourth down, giving the ball back right back to the Wildcats.
Ferndale responded with yet another 29-yard touchdown, this time from senior Tanner Pidgeon. Arcata could not hold on to their next possession for long, as Pidgeon leaped up and intercepted the ball, taking it for a 57-yard pick six.
Pidgeon proceeded to bring another touchdown with just 30 seconds left, rounding out the first 28-0, Ferndale.
Arcata again could not stop Pidgeon, as he found himself in the end zone for the fourth time, just 40 seconds into the second quarter.
On Arcata’s first possession of the second, the snap went over senior quarterback Miguel Obezo’s head, landing the ball in Arcata’s endzone, resulting in a safety for Ferndale.
Arcata responded with what they have done best this season, and onside kick recovery. Senior Messiah Love grappled onto the ball, returning possession to the Tigers.
Once again, Arcata could not get past the Ferndale defense, giving the ball right back to the Wildcats.
Just like before, Pidgeon blew through the Arcata defense, adding another six to the board, and with a good kick, Ferndale was up 44-0.
Before the half ended, Langer picked up his second touchdown. The Wildcats failed to complete their two-point conversion, wrapping the half up 50-0.
While the first half was almost all offensive moves from Pidgeon, Langer broke out in the second half.
About two minutes in, the powerful back plowed through the Arcata defense on a 35-yard touchdown run. After another two minutes of play, Langer snatched an Arcata pass, bringing it in for a 25-yard pick six.
After a rough defensive showcase from the Tigers, Arcata’s Love flung his arms into the air and blocked Ferndale’s kick, preventing the extra point.
The Tigers didn’t hold onto the ball for long, Pidgeon grabbed an interception earlier into their possession, but luckily this time was brought down, ending the third 63-0.
The Wildcats were finally slowing down, but late in the fourth, Obezo was tackled in his own end zone, rewarding a second safety to Ferndale.
“Safeties, turnovers, and mistakes,” Magers said. “You don’t win games like that.”
To round out the scoring for Ferndale, Langer bolted down the field off an onside kick, bringing in his fifth touchdown of the day.
Moving forward, the Tigers will host the McKinleyville Panthers in a Friday night rivalry showdown. This is the second time this season The Tigers have faced the Panthers, and are hoping with a healthy roster, they can reignite the spark that brought them to a 62-34 win in their first meeting.
“I think when we have everyone back we can hang with some of the better teams in our county,” Magers said. “We’re gonna go into next week and hopefully we come out and have a better defensive shot.”
