The Arcata Tigers and Ferndale Wildcats, the only two undefeated teams in the HDNL, faced off in a homecoming showdown on Friday night, and ended in Arcata’s favor, 35-7.
“We didn’t come to the game looking for a slug fest,” Senior Jackson Strand said. “We came looking for a blowout.”
Ferndale had won the CIF division 7AA state championship last year, and had a 12 game win streak, continuing from last season, going into Friday’s game. Ferndale’s last loss had been against Arcata almost a year ago, and it was Arcata who broke their win streak.
“When we were looking at matchups across the board, we knew we were better,” Junior Luke Lemke said.
It didn’t look too promising for either team with a dead first quarter filled with penalties from both teams. The tigers were able to shift the atmosphere to take over during the second half.
“The defense going out there, making stops, and making big hits, really swung the momentum,” Lemke said. “Once we got the offense to score and put points on the board, it was off from there.”
In the second quarter, both Strand and senior Cal Tucker got on the board for the first set of touchdowns from the duo. Strand and Tucker who have been playing a pivotal role in the Tigers success this season, both put up two touchdowns in the win.
“We do the same thing and it’s hard to stop both of us at the same time,” Strand said. “If we play to that, it’s gonna be tough.”
Senior Lennon Gieder, who had missed the last two games due to injury, recorded two sacks in the win, and junior Lincoln Neuman added his own. Strand also caught an interception in the beginning of the third quarter.
“Defense played lights out,” Head Coach Matt Magers said.
Lemke connected with Strand in the middle of the third, giving Strand his second touchdown of the night. Right after that, Lemke ran the ball in to put himself on the board.
To finish off the tigers scoring, Tucker danced himself through the field into the endzone, putting the tigers up 35-0 in the third.
The Tigers were up by a comfortable margin but an eager Ferndale junior quarterback, Tanner Pidgeon, broke free and took the shutout from the Tigers.
“In every game that Ferndale had played they had put up close to 30 points, and we held them to seven,” Lemke said.
It’s not usual that a highschooler who’s never played football before can be as valuable of a player as Senior Paul VandenBranden is. VandenBranden finished the game going 5/5 on PAT’s.
“It’s always a comfort we can rely on our kicker to come through when it counts,” Strand said.
The Tigers have only three league games left in the season, and it’s looking promising for them. Arcata will play the Mckinleyville Panthers next Friday night, and then host the Hoopa Warriors the following week. Arcata beat both teams by 35+, and are looking to repeat it. It will all come down to the final match-up of Arcata and Ferndale to decide who takes home the League title.
“I know we beat Ferndale by a lot last night, they were 6-0 for a reason,” Lemke said. “So we still have to prepare for them.”
