Kloe Bryant
Senior Luke Lemke
The Arcata Tigers, coming off of a historic, state winning season, are looking towards another strong year. Arcata hosted a HDNL jamboree consisting of six teams, all playing four games on a half sized field, with one team having 10 possessions per game.
The Tigers had to make a decision to only play defensive, due to not having enough eligible players.
“We did not have all our guys available, a lot of kids didn’t have enough practices,” Head coach Matt Magers said.
Magers took this opportunity as a positive, getting to work more on their teams defensive.
“I don’t think it’s a negative at all,” Magers said. “We know what we’re gonna get out of our offense, so getting the extra reps, especially with the younger guys, is good for us.”
Arcata was able to comfortably defend against St. Bernards in the second game, with seniors Chase Bickemore causing fumbles and Lincoln Neuman grabbing an interception. St. Bernards decided to make a kick from about the 10 yard line, and easily fly it through the posts. They made a second attempt in the possession after, kicking from about the 45 yard line, and this time, coming up extremely short.
To open their first game against Del Norte, the Warriors were able to sneak by a touchdown on their fifth possession. The Tigers were able to shake them up a bit and cause some incomplete passes, but the Warriors put another touchdown on the board before the end.
In their third game, the Tigers were able to put up some great defensive effort and keep Fortuna out of the endzone during all 10 possessions.
In their final, and maybe most crucial game yet, the Tigers struggled against the Ferndale Wildcats, their division rivals. Last season, Arcata shared the Little 4 title with Ferndale, after both closing out the HDNL season 9-1. Both Arcata and Ferndale’s single losses were to each other, and in both games, both sides were fighting until the final buzzer. This time, the Wildcats were easily able to slide by the Tigers defensive, putting up five touchdowns in just 10 possessions.
“We’re gonna improve defensively,” Magers said. “We return our quarterback, [and] most of our line returns. Defensively, [we’re] finding some of those skill positions, finding who’s gonna fit better, and we did a lot of that today.”
While the Tigers didn’t play offensive, we still got to see Senior Quarterback Luke Lemke in action. Last season Lemke was the co-little four Offensive MVP, and player of the game in the state title game. This season he will also be playing defensive corner back and safety for some plays, and will be getting action both on offensive and defensive. He came out hot on defensive in this jamboree, grabbing some crucial tackles for the Tigers.
The Tigers will host the Eureka loggers, whom they did not get to play in this jamboree, in their home opener on Saturday, the 30th, at Mckinleyville high. Despite not playing them yet, the Tigers feel comfortable that they can come out, perform well, and take home their first win of the season.
“I think we’re in a good spot.” Magers said. “They are coming off a good end of the season, so they’re motivated, and we beat them two years in a row, so they want to come get us. We’re looking forward to it.”