Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Saturday night’s game at the Redwood Bowl.

By Ray Hamill — A lot of local football fans have been sleeping on the Eureka Loggers this year, but that’s not likely to be the case any more.

On Saturday night, the Loggers celebrated their homecoming with a dominating performance against a team that has been their nemesis in recent years, opening the Big 4 with a 41-6 win over St. Bernard’s at the Redwood Bowl.

The victory ends a run of eight straight losses in conference play for Eureka dating back to 2021, and five straight conference losses to St. Bernard’s dating back to 2019.

Since they last won the Big 4 in 2018, the Loggers had gone 1-14 in conference games.

But this is a different Eureka team and they showed it on Saturday night.

“We have a goal to compete in league and tonight was the first step,” Eureka head coach Sam Edmonds said. “Like I told the boys, this is where the season matters most.”

The Loggers dominated the game on both sides of the ball with several players stepping up.

No one more so than Gavyn Haberman, who scored three touchdowns.

The senior leader opened his team’s account on a 17-yard TD run in the first quarter, a play that was set up by an interception he made on St. Bernard’s second possession of the game.

He would add a 30-yard TD run in a high-scoring third quarter that saw the Loggers take control of the game, and he capped a brilliant all-around game with a pick six late in the third quarter to put the home team up 35-6 and end the game as a contest.

“He’s another senior leader and he’s been stepping up and playing amazing football for us,” Edmonds said.

Check out one of Gavyn Haberman’s TDs below …

Check out Cole Zellar’s TD reception above …

Jaydn Payton also found the end zone on a one-yard run in the final minute of the first half and the Loggers carried a 14-0 advantage into the break.

The Crusaders came out fired up in the third quarter and cut the deficit on a one-yard Tyler Hinrichs TD run midway through the period.

But just as St. Bernard’s appeared to have taken the momentum, the Loggers took it right back again on the ensuing possession when Haberman found the end zone for a second time.

Eureka then recovered an onside kick and quickly marched all the way up field again, scoring on a 36-yard TD pass from quarterback Kyle Johnston to Cole Zeller.

Two plays later, on St. Bernard’s next drive, Haberman capped an outstanding quarter for the home team with a 60-yard pick six.

Jerome Lyons would close out the scoring on an eight-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

“I’m excited for our kids,” Edmonds said. “They played hard and it’s opened their eyes that they can compete with anybody.

“When these kids play together as a team and get after it, that’s when they do great things.”

Defensively, the Loggers frustrated their crosstown rivals all night and never really allowed them to settle into any sort of rhythm, taking away their ground attack.

“Defensively they were lights out,” Edmonds added of his players. “For our boys to be able to eliminate the big plays, that was huge.”

There were several standouts for the Loggers on both lines, no one more so than senior defensive lineman Chayton Rose.

“He played phenomenal,” his head coach said. “He was disruptive all night.”

So too was Junior Fonoti, who was a force on both lines and picked up the slack in the absence of some injured players.

“We had several guys injured this week and he stepped up and played left tackle for us and he helped solidify that offensive line,” Edmonds said.

“I’m extremely proud of all these kids. Michael Jewell played a great game, Kyle Johnston played phenomenal. The list could go on. I’m proud of each and every one of them.”

Check out Jaydn Payton’s TD run below …

The performance was a nice response for a group of players that fell just short at Del Norte last week when they lost a non-conference game by one point.

“I think last week the boys realized they can’t take plays off,” the Eureka head coach said. “They’ve got to go all four quarters and get after it.”

Edmonds also praised St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin, whom he described as a great coach.

With the win, the Loggers improved to 3-5 overall and 1-0 in the Big 4.

This was their first home game since opening weekend and the win sets up a championship game against Del Norte next week after the Warriors also kicked off the Big 4 with a big win on Saturday night, beating Fortuna 21-12.

The winner of next week’s game at the Redwood Bowl is guaranteed at least a share of this year’s conference title.

The loss was just the second of the season for St. Bernard’s, which dropped to 6-2 overall and 0-1 in conference.

The Crusaders will try to bounce back when they travel to play Fortuna next weekend.

The St. Bernard’s JVs won their matchup on Saturday night, beating the Loggers 39-19.