Kloe Bryant
Tigers during the National Anthem
The Arcata Tigers gained their first win of the season after a nail-biting match up against the Del Norte Warriors. The Tigers are now on a three year winning streak against the Warriors, and despite some questioning on how they would perform this year, they proved they are still strong competitors.
“This season started off a little bumpy, but we climbed out of that hole,” junior Jack Bertell said. “We have promise, our team works well together, and we just gotta show that.”
The game didn’t start ideally for the Tigers, while they received, they were quickly forced to punt on a fourth down. The Warriors used that to their advantage, and quickly pushed themself into the endzone, putting them up on the board 7-0.
It looked like the Tigers could tie it with a long catch made by Senior Danillo Fanti, but a flag call on an illegal block stripped away their touchdown.
Roughly half way into the second, a bad snap from the Tigers made them lose the ball, pushing them back some yards, but the Tigers were able to keep the possession when senior Luke Lemke recovered the ball. In just the next possession, Lemke was able to tie the game when he slipped by Del Norte defenders and snuck into the endzone.
Senior Chase Bickemore picked it up for the Tigers when he completed a huge sack, then as the clock hit zero during the Warriors possession, he picked up an electric pick-six, giving the Tigers a 13-7 lead at half.
“Defensively we stepped up and it made one hell of a difference,” Head Coach Matt Magers said.
The lead didn’t last for long, about 3 minutes into the third, Del Norte picked up another touchdown, but failed their two-point conversion attempt.
The Tigers quickly responded with Lemke’s second touchdown of the night, regaining their lead, 20-13.
Lemke and Bickemore weren’t the only players to have a good night. Bertell had a huge catch, about 30 yards, towards the end of the third, and then picked up a touchdown right after, extending the Tigers lead to 14.
“He’s quick, he had a great night at receiver.” Magers said. “ He’s a great kid [and] works very hard.”
Del Norte was able to cut the lead in half, with a throwing touchdown opening up the fourth quarter.
With just six minutes left of the game, Del Norte was able to get into the enzone, tying up the game.
With the clock ticking down, the Tigers had possession and knew they had to utilize it, which is exactly what they did. Lemke pushed through and got into the endzone, and with a good kick from Senior Austin Cooley, it gave them a lead. To top it off, Junior Ronan Williamson snagged a tackle on Del Norte’s fourth down, which sealed the game at 34-27.
The Tigers will use this adrenaline going into their next game, where they will host the St. Vincent De Paul Mustangs, from Petaluma in a non-league match-up on Saturday, the 20th. The Mustangs are 2-0 on the season, both of the games only being separated by a few points.
“It’s gonna be a battle, but it’s at Cal Poly so we’re gonna enjoy it,” Magers said. “I don’t think any team is unbeatable.”