Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Saturday’s game between Fortuna and Arcata.
The dynasty is alive and well and showing no signs of slowing down.
On Saturday afternoon, the Fortuna Huskies clinched an eighth straight league championship with a 7-3 win at Arcata, officially ending a race that has been all but decided for a couple of weeks.
The Huskies have not lost in league play in more than eight years and have not lost to anyone at all since falling to Head-Royce in September 2018, a run of 58 straight games, including 25 straight victories.
“I have been blessed with some outstanding young men and my job is just to fit the pieces to the puzzle,” said head coach Daniel Holmes, who has been in charge of the program for all eight championships. “And every year they seem to do it.”
Holmes also paid tribute to the team’s former players, many of whom still lend a hand, including Martin Calderon and Chico Cortes, each of whom has played a big part behind the scenes this year.
Saturday’s game was a high-scoring affair, with the Huskies taking control early and leading 4-1 at halftime.
Antonio Garcinuno scored four goals in the win, witth Jesus Herrera, RJ Rexford and Lane Shelton each also scoring for the Huskies, who improved to 10-0 in the Big 5 and 14-0 on the season.
“You know, obviously we set goals and this was one of our goals,” Holmes said of the league title. “And we’ll figure out our next goal and keep on moving.”
Ethan Gyenis netted twice for Arcata, which is now 5-3-1 in the Big 5, and Miles Kraemer scored the other goal.
“I thought their center back (Josiah Gomez) played a really nice game,” Holmes said. “And Ethan (Gyenis) up top played well. He’s a talented forward.”
The league crown would have been the ninth straight for the team had the H-DNL awarded one last season.
“Congratulations to Fortuna on another successful season,” Arcata head coach John Davidson said. “They are a quality program and we continue to learn to compete with them.”
Del Norte 3, Eureka 1
The Warriors are finding their form late in the season.
After going winless through their opening five games, the Del Norte boys have won four of their last six games, including an impressive 3-1 victory at Eureka on Saturday, their second over the Loggers in the Big 5.
Rancho Contreras opened the scoring in the first half when he netted off a long throw-in by teammate Evan Drown, and Mario Ledezma made it 2-0 before halftime with an unassisted goal.
The Warriors stretched the gap to three midway through the second half, when Rodolpho Ramirez netted from inside the six yard box after being set up on a Chase Gardner pass.
Eureka scored three minutes from time when Ean Savage volleyed home.
“It was a good game played between two evenly-matched teams with lots of heart and good spirit,” Del Norte head coach David Sanyaolu said. “We were more efficient with our effort at their goal.”
The Del Norte defense did an outstanding job soaking up a lot of second-half pressure as the Loggers began to chase the game.
With the win, Del Norte is now 3-5-2 in the Big 5, while Eureka dropped to 1-5-4 in conference play.
“We came out flat,” Eureka head coach Eddie Garcia said. “We missed too many chances, and Del Norte put theirs away.”
Huskies edge Mack in entertaining JV game
The Fortuna JVs also continued their successful season this past week, winning 2-1 at McKinleyville on Thursday.
The young Huskies have impressed in limited action this fall and the future of the program appears to be in good hands.
Jesus Herrera scored both goals in the win, as the Fortuna boys rallied from a one-goal deficit.
Both teams created multiple chances in what was an entertaining game, with the crossbar denying players on both sides.
