Junior Luke Lemke and senior Cal Tucker led the Arcata Tigers to a 22-0 shutout win against the Eureka Loggers on Saturday night.
“There’s a lot of articles saying that if we lose this game, we could go 0-3 [and] last year was a fluke,” Tucker said “It set us on the right track, set the tone, and proved people wrong.”
With Arcata kicking off to Eureka to start the game, they recovered a failed onside kick to get the ball on Eureka’s 46-yard line. It didn’t look promising for the Tigers with a slow first quarter that ended 0-0.
Early in the second quarter, Lemke found senior Dayquan Dunn for an 81-yard touchdown and then completed a two-point conversion to senior Alex Greenway.
Last season, Lemke was awarded the Little 4 Offensive MVP, and he’s continuing to show why he got that award.
“Luke Lemke had a hell of a game, throwing and running the ball,” head coach Matt Magers said.
Lemke wasn’t the only standout Tiger, Tucker finished the game with two touchdowns and good defensive play.
“I was more involved in tackling than I was last year, I was happy with my performance,” Tucker said.
With about two minutes left of the first half, Lemke threw a pass to the endzone, intended for senior Jackson Strand, but the ball went over Strand’s head and into Tucker’s arms for his first touchdown of the night. The Tigers led the Loggers 14-0 at the half.
Arcata didn’t stop there, with six minutes left of the third quarter, Lemke completed a 30-yard pass to Tucker, to put the Tigers ahead 20-0.
Lemke and Tucker made yet another connection, completing a two-point conversion to lead the game 22-0.
“We know we can be good, if we just keep up the hard work, we have potential to go far,” Lemke said.
The Tiger’s offensive was in a comfortable spot with the help of the defensive. In the 4th quarter, junior Lincoln Neuman and senior Lennon Gieder each recorded a sack. The loggers found themselves in the red zone numerous times, but couldn’t connect with Arcatas defense in the way.
“Kayden Hackett was being a beast on the [defensive] line,” Lemke said.
The Tigers are looking at some competition with their next opponent, the Fortuna Huskies. Fortuna blew out Del Norte with a 22-0 win on Friday Night. Arcata will host the Huskies on Friday, September 6.
