By Ray Hamill — After winning four of their final five regular-season games in 2022, the Arcata Tigers carried that momentum into this season with an impressive 19-8 win over Eureka on Saturday night, their first over the Loggers in 11 years. 

And they can thank their defense.

In fact, but for a couple of special teams miscues, the Tigers likely would have shut out the Loggers, whose only TD of the night came on a very short drive after a big punt return.

“I thought our defense did a hell of a job,” Arcata head coach Matt Magers said after the victory. “We had a couple of blunders on special teams that kept them in the game, but our defense played a hell of a game.”

No one in attendance would deny that, and there were several players who stepped up.

Check out some of the game highlights above, including a big hit by Neiko Bryson, who was one of the players to help set the tone on defense.

But he wasn’t the only one, and Magers gave credit to the entire unit for helping to set a physical tone and never relenting.

It was also a win that will give the Arcata players plenty of momentum and confidence going forward.

And they’ll need it, with another tough matchup against a Big 4 team this weekend.

On Friday night, the Tigers travel to Fortuna to take on a Huskies team that was equally impressive (and physical) in its opener over the weekend, getting the better of a good University Prep team by a score of 27-15.

This Friday’s game is set for 7:30 p.m. at Husky Field.

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com