Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Arcata Tigers open the new season at South Tahoe next weekend.

By Ray Hamill — With all due respect to the rest of the Little 4, the Arcata Tigers feel they have bigger goals to conquer in 2019.

In particular, head coach Jamal Jones and his players believe they don’t even belong in the Little 4 and should be competing for a conference title against the bigger schools in the H-DNL.

“No disrespect to the other teams, but we have hundreds more students than Hoopa, hundreds more than Ferndale. We should be handling our business,” Jones said. “I pleaded with my AD, whatever we have to do to get back up, we need to do. I’m surprised we went down. I think that shocked our team.”

The Tigers will get the opportunity to back that belief in week three when they play St. Bernard’s, the team that replaced them in the Big 4 a year ago.

“We’ve got St. Bernard’s on the schedule,” Jones said. “We get the chance to prove we should go back up.”

Last season, St. Bernard’s routed Arcata 47-14, but Jones feels his team has come on a long way since then.

Arcata head coach Jamal Jones believes his team belongs in the Big 4.

Even winning a Little 4 championship on the way to a 6-4 regular season record and a home playoff game didn’t satisfy the Tigers’ ambitions in 2018.

“Last year was just a disappointing year for a lot of people here,” the head coach said. “It’s never about winning, it’s about how you win and how you lose, and we didn’t win the right way last year.

“You can’t play the way we played and expect to win a football game. We should have lost four of those (league) games.”

Expectations

Jones admits he’ll know more about this year’s team after Saturday’s scrimmage in Ferndale against the host Wildcats and McKinleyville, but added he likes what he’s seen from his players so far.

“We’ve been at it since January,” he said.

The Tigers have plenty of reason to feel optimistic ahead of the new season, which opens next Friday night at South Tahoe.

They have a core group of strong starters back both at the skilled positions and along the lines, with several younger players getting plenty of valuable experience a year ago in the midst of an injury-plagued campaign for the team.

Raven Perez (13) and Syrus Houle (51) both return for the Tigers this season.

Most notably, the return of Max Rice in the trenches will be key to the team’s success.

And Jones believes there is no one better in the county.

“Max Rice will have the best (college) offer of anybody in the county,” the coach said. “He’s the best player.”

In the offensive backfield, the dynamic duo of senior Kien Mazzotti and junior Everett Halikas will be expected to tear it up again after a big season against the rest of the Little 4 in 2018.

“You’ll see a lot of those two,” Jones said. “Those two have been working their butts off since January.”

Along the line, Rice will be joined by junior Jack Baca and senior Mateo Vincent, each of whom will be expected to play a big role again.

Quarterback battle

The Tigers have a legitimate quarterback battle in training camp with two solid options to fill the role, returning starter and senior Mathew Robinson and sophomore Shane Purcell.

Robinson, according to Jones, has the purest passing arm of anyone in the H-DNL, but the younger Purcell has been making better decisions with the ball.

“We’re trying to figure out which direction we want to go,” the head coach said.

The competition will likely keep both players on their toes and gives the coaching staff some options.

Also back from a year ago, and one of the younger players to benefit from playing time with the abundance of injuries on the roster, is sophomore lineman Syrus Houle, who has impressed the coaches and quickly established himself as a key member of the team with a huge upside.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes the best lineman in our league,” Jones said. “He has the chance to be the best lineman in the county.”

Team chemistry will be another key for the Tigers, as it is for every football team, and Jones believes his players have taken a big step toward that this offseason.

“We have a lot of kids that have really embraced our family culture,” the head coach said.