When the Tigers played Eureka in their season opener this fall, the stands watched as number five took the field, and confusion flushed over the stadium. Number five was being worn once again and no one understood why.
Everett Halikas was a junior at Arcata High when he passed away from Bacterial Meningitis in March of 2020. Halikas’s bright presence is fondly remembered at Arcata High, specifically on the football field.
Halikas played on the Varsity football team for three years and made a prominent impact. Not only did he affect the team with his athletic abilities, but also by his leadership and hardworking talent.
“He always had a smile on his face, he was always committed to the team, and he never had a bad attitude about anything,” teammate and current JV Football Coach Matt Jioras-Rebik said.
When Halikas passed, all his jerseys were given to his family out of respect. Since then, number five has been off the field and put away… until now.
“We talked about retiring the number and we’ve also talked about bringing it back,” current Head Football Coach Matt Magers said. “But we didn’t want just anyone to wear it.”
After four years of discussion and contemplation, the jersey finally found a home. Senior Jackson Strand was given the jersey at the beginning of the season and has been wearing it since. Strand originally wore number three, but took the honor and changed his number for his senior season.
“It’s not my jersey. I’m just wearing it; it’s his,” Strand said.
It wasn’t just hard for the coaches to make this decision, but also for Halikas’s mom, Laurie Halikas. She knew her son better than anyone, and she knew, deep down, he would want someone wearing it.
“It’s an honor,” L. Halikas said. “I think that’s something that would mean a lot to him.”
It’s not easy to fill the shoes of someone like Halikas, and Strand understands that. Halikas was a bright kid who cared for everything and everyone. The coaches knew that giving his jersey to someone would mean something, and that’s why it was finally decided it would be given to Strand.
“He’s a great kid, a leader, a gentleman, and a great player,” Magers said.
A great honor comes with Strand wearing the number five. To be the player the coaches have waited for is a lot to take in.
“I have never felt more respected and honored,” Strand said.
Just like Strand, it was a lot for L. Halikas. She went back and forth on what she wanted to happen with the jerseys, like whether they were to be hung up or for them to be worn. It was a lot for her to find out that someone was wearing it again, but the feeling that came with the jersey being worn again was nothing but excitement.
“It’s… alive,” L. Halikas said.
As most kids do, Halikas loved football. He started loving football when he was just four years old. When he was old enough to play, his mom accidentally signed him up with the older kids. He was playing a few years up and even though he didn’t play much that year, he didn’t let that stop him. After years of practice and recreational league games, he finally played for a varsity football team.
“It blew my mind every day to have him, just be that happy and just thrilled to be out there,” Jiorias-Rebik said.
Halikas’s connection to football is still with him, with his own Arcata helmet being buried with him.
When Halikas was seventeen, he was out with his friends when he decided to seize the moment. That night he came home with every parent’s worst nightmare: a new tattoo. He was given a stick-and-poke tattoo of the number five on his side rib. That one stick-and-poke ended up symbolizing so much more in the future.
After Halikas’s passing, his football teammates decided to get matching five tattoos, instead, theirs were done by professionals, not by another teenager.
“Everybody’s so close when you play football. You grind, sweat, break bones,” Magers said. “It’s different from soccer or basketball. Everyone is so close to each other.”
The jersey hopes to be reassigned in the future seasons, but it depends on who walks onto that football field next fall. It’s so much more than just a jersey, number five is Everett Halikas. Every time his jersey takes the field, whether it’s Strand or another player, every time they touch the field, Halikas touches it too.
