Senior quarterback, Cole Vandenplas, led the Arcata Tigers to a rivalry win against the McKinleyville Panthers. The Tigers defeated the Panthers 44-6 on Friday night at the Redwood bowl. 

Vadenplas threw for 337 yards, with six touchdowns in his first game back after missing games due to injury. Vadenplas made connections with junior Lennon Gieder for three touchdowns. 

Senior Oscar Carlson, sophomore Lincoln Neuman and junior Dayquan Dunn, all had one receiving touchdown. Then junior Alex Greenway had one rushing touchdown. 

“Defense played lights out all night,” head coach Matt Magers said. Neuman led the Tigers for tackles with eight total tackles, including one tackle for loss. 

Friday was also Senior Night and the seniors honored were Oscar Carlson, Ronnie Franklin, Cole Vandenplas, Tanner Via-root, David Halligan, Jafet Herrara, Matthew Anderson, Brycen Collinson, Destinlee Mendez and cheerleader Evangelina Reed. 

The Tigers are a different team than fans have seen before. Magers said, “This year and last year are the only teams I’ve had that will play back from a losing situation.” During the Homecoming game on October 6th, the Tigers were down 13-27 by halftime, but came back to win the game 32-27.

The Tigers are now 3-0 in the league and 5-2 in the season. Arcata will play the Hoopa Valley Warriors at Hoopa High School on October 20th at 7:30 p.m. The Tigers have shut out the Warriors both times this season with both wins reaching at least 50 points.