Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports,.com – The Arcata defense shut out the Hoopa Warriors on Saturday night.

The Arcata Tigers felt they had a point to prove on Saturday.

One week after a disappointing shutout loss at Fortuna — a game in which the players showed no energy, according to head coach Matt Magers — the Tigers responded with a 50-0 win over Hoopa at McKinleyville High.

The game was all but over after a few minutes as the Tigers led 28-0 midway through the first quarter and stretched the advantage to 50 by halftime.

“We really kind of had to make a statement,” head coach Matt Magers said. “There’s no excuse for not executing on offense or defense last week, and they needed to come out and show what they’re made of.”

The Tigers did that and more, and they did it on both sides of the ball.

Quarterback Cole Vandenplas accounted for five touchdowns in the win, throwing for four and running in for another.

Luke Lemke also had a TD run, while linebacker Dayquan Dun rounded out the scoring with a 60-yard pick six.

All four starting Arcata linebackers had an impact.

“Our linebacking corps is doing a great job coming up and tackling,” Magers said.

In addition to Dunn, fellow linebackers Lincoln Neuman, Oscar Carlson and Neiko Bryson each also had a good night.

Cal Tucker also had a good night on both sides of the ball, catching one of Vandenplas’ four TD passes and also coming up with an interception on defense.

Jackson Strand, Danillo Fanti and Lennon Gieder each also had a touchdown reception.

With the passing game all but shut down before the end of the first quarter, running back Alex Greenway carried much of the offensive workload, with Tucker and Lemke also making some effective runs on sweep plays.

The Tigers shook things up on offense a little bit with a couple of new starters after last week’s disappointing performance and it appeared to work.

“We were very efficient on offense,” Magers said. “Cole played well. He was efficient and kind of bounced back from last week.

“It was a good comeback statement win.”

The Arcata Tigers improved to 2-1 with a big win over Hoopa on Saturday night.

With the win the Tigers improved to 2-1 on the season, while the Warriors dropped to 1-2.

The two teams will face off twice more in league play later in the season.

Hoopa returns home to host Trinity on Friday in what will finally be their home opener after they were forced to play their first two scheduled home games away from Hoopa because of wildfires in the area.

The Tigers will play at St. Bernard’s next Saturday.