Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The South Fork Cubs celebrate one of their goals in Wednesday’s game at McKinleyville.

It was an interesting day around the H-DNL to say the least.

At Fortuna, the Huskies continued to roll, overcoming their closest challengers this season with a big second half performance and running out to a 5-1 win over Arcata.

At McKinleyville, the South Fork Cubs stunned the home team and won 3-1, while in Crescent City the Del Norte boys got their first league win, 3-0 over Eureka.

With their win, the Huskies took a big step toward an eighth straight league title, breaking open a tight game with four unanswered goals after the break.

And it was thanks to some adjustments the players made themselves.

“Much love to my captains for making those adjustments,” said head coach Daniel Holmes, whose team began connecting more after the break and began to control the midfield. “The players definitely listened. That was on the boys. That wasn’t on me. They fixed that on their own.”

Lane Shelton continued his impressive season with a hat trick, while RJ Rexford scored on a header and Antonio Garcinuno also netted.

Angel Diaz was instrumental in the second-half turnaround and controlled the midfield.

“He seemed like a different player in the second half, and kind of calmed them all down in midfield,” Holmes said.

The ever reliable Edgar Herrera also had a big game in the center of the field.

Action from Wednesday’s game at McKinleyville High.

“I’m just super proud of how they pulled that one together,” Holmes said.

Ethan Gyenis scored Arcata’s only goal.

“Setbacks and disappointments like this are an opportunity to improve,” Arcata head coach John Davidson said. “We have to stay positive and keep fighting to get results in the league.”

Fortuna is now 6-0 in the Big 5, while Arcata dropped to 3-2.

South Fork 3, McKinleyville 1

The South Fork Cubs showed just how dangerous they can be against Big 5 opponents with a 3-1 win at McKinleyville.

The South Fork defense held firm for much of the game with the help of some stellar play by goalie Logan Hobbs, who made a couple of huge saves, including a spectacular diving stop late in the game to preserve the two-goal advantage.

Defenders Kobe Gellman, Trey Willner and Jonah Wansick all had big games at the back.

“Really I have to hand it to our defense,” South Fork head coach Torey Haus said. “Our defense was just amazing today and our goalie had a couple of amazing saves.”

Ryder York scored two of the Cubs’ three goals, with Hector Torres also scoring in the win.

With the win, which was their second straight, the Cubs improved to 2-2 on the season.

Logan Maher scored McKinleyville’s only goal of the game late in the second half, as a young Panthers team that lost multiple starters from last season was forced to learn another hard lesson.

“We just couldn’t connect on our passes,” said Mack head coach Ryne Deppe. “It was something else.”

The Panthers were missing a handful of starters for a variety of reasons, including their center backs, and they were playing in the Mack High stadium for the first time instead of on the soccer field, something Deppe admitted he was not happy about.

The performance wasn’t without its bright spots, including the play of Angel Gonzalez, who switched back to defense in the absence of the starters and was a strong presence along the back line.

With the loss, the Panthers are now 0-4-4 on the season.

Del Norte 3, Eureka 0

The Del Norte Warriors got their first Big 5 win on Wednesday, defeating Eureka 3-0 in Crescent City.

Yahir Alanis continued to impress up front for the home team, scoring twice in the first half for a 2-0 lead at the break.

Pedro Garcia netted the third goal after the interval, as the Warriors controlled the tempo of the game in the second half.

“Everything clicked for us,” Del Norte head coach David Sanyaolu said. “My boys played a good attacking game without the defensive errors that have been our undoing in previous games.”

With the win, the Warriors improved to 1-3-2 in the Big 5, while the Loggers are now 0-3-3.

“We were behind Del Norte in every step the whole game,” Eureka head coach Eddie Garcia admitted.

The Warriors will be hoping to carry this momentum into their remaining league schedule.

“I am proud of all the boys and I know they can play even better,” the Del Norte coach added.