Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — All four of the Little 4 football teams open the new football season next week and the big question heading into the new campaign is can anyone beat the Arcata Tigers to the conference championship?

Last year, the Tigers went undefeated in conference play, including a couple of thrilling come-from-behind wins over Ferndale.

That ultimately was the difference as the Tigers edged the eventual state champs to the L4 title.

Can they repeat that this year, or will the defending state champs carry the momentum from a thrilling playoff run in 2023 over into 2024?

Or perhaps the McKinleyville Panthers can put the disappointment of a winless 2023 behind them and repeat their impressive conference championship of 2022.

And then of course there’s the Hoopa Warriors, a proud program that shared the 2023 JV championship with Ferndale and will be looking to build on that at the varsity level this fall.

Outside of the Little 4, the South Fork Cubs are hoping for a return to the conference in the near future after winning a first-ever North Coast Section championship in eight-person football a year ago.

Under the guidance of head coach Karl Terrell, the Cubs have been building momentum the last few years and they will be hoping that continues to be the case this year.

All five programs will be eager to get the new season under way and all five have reason to feel optimistic ahead of the new campaign.

Here then is a breakdown of why Big 4 fans and South Fork fans should feel optimistic about their team’s chances this fall.

Arcata Tigers

With a pair of reigning MVPs back from last year’s championship winning team — Luke Lemke and Dayquan Dunn — the Tigers appear to be the team to beat once again in 2024.

Head coach Matt Magers has done a commendable job in his two years in charge of the team and fans can expect that to continue this fall as they look to win a second  straight conference title and a third in four years.

Much will depend on how effective Lemke (2023 L4 Offensive MVP) and Dunn (2023 L4 Defensive MVP) can be, but both will be expected to hit the ground running and cause matchup problems for the rest of the league once again.

Whether the Tigers should be competing in the Little 4 or the Big 4 remains a subject of contention among local fans, but with a deeper roster than the rest of the conference and two returning MVPs their fans should every reason to feel optimistic ahead of the new season.

Ferndale Wildcats

The Wildcats will be looking forward to the new season probably more than any other team in the H-DNL.

That’s what happens when you win a state championship.

And that’s precisely why Ferndale fans should be optimistic ahead of the new campaign.

Yes, it will be difficult to repeat as North Coast Section or state champs, but with a core group of returning juniors from the state title winning roster and plenty of momentum heading into the new season, Ferndale fans have every reason to feel optimistic right now.

They also have arguably the best head coach in the Little 4.

The big challenge for the smallest school in the conference will be beating Arcata after a pair of heartbreaking losses to the Tigers last fall, and their two games against them this fall will be circled on the calendar.

Hoopa Warriors

This season marks the beginning of a new era for the Warriors, who have a new head coach, with Curtis Kane stepping up from the JVs to take over the varsity program.

And he’s not alone.

This year’s Hoopa varsity roster will get an injection of talent with several players from last year’s JV championship-winning squad also moving up to varsity.

This group of Warriors won’t lack confidence and are used to winning games together and that will make them a tough opponent for the rest of the conference.

Realistically, they may be a year away from seriously challenging for a Little 4 title, but the players won’t be thinking that, and that’s reason enough for optimism for Hoopa fans.

McKinleyville Panthers

The past two season have been a contrast in emotions for the Panthers, who won the Little 4 in 2022 and went winless all of last season.

So which Panthers team can fans expect to see take the field in 2024?

Last year, an extremely limited roster in terms of numbers meant the Panthers barely even had enough players to field a team week to week — they finished one game with just nine players available — so it should be a much improved situation this fall with 25 players on the varsity roster.

A second reason for optimism is the fact a young roster will benefit from several JV players from 2023 moving up to the varsity level, as well as three sophomore linemen who already have a year’s varsity experience under their belts.

After struggling early in the season, the Mack JVs closed out 2023 with two wins in their final four games and that should give them some momentum heading into this season.

Submitted photo

South Fork Cubs

Similar to the Wildcats, the Cubs should benefit from an historic championship winning campaign in 2023.

Yes, the Cubs lost several talented athletes from that North Coast Section winning team to graduation, but the cupboard is far from bare and the players returning have plenty of experience and should have plenty of belief heading into the new campaign because of their success a year ago.

Once again, the Cubs will play 11-person football for the first four weeks of the 2024 season, before returning to eight-person ball the rest of the way.

And that should once again benefit them down the stretch of the season as they look to repeat as NCS champs and further establish the program.