Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Ferndale’s Tristen Titus in action during Saturday’s game.
By Ray Hamill — Not in our house.
That was the message from the Ferndale Wildcats on Saturday afternoon, as they beat the Arcata Tigers 27-21 in both teams’ Little 4 and regular season finales at Ferndale High School.
The win not only avenged a lopsided loss to the Tigers in conference play three weeks ago, but it also secured a share of this year’s Little 4 championship with the Tigers.
Both teams closed out with identical 9-1 overall records and 5-1 records in the Little 4, and each will now turn their attention to the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs, with the brackets and seeds set to be announced on Sunday.
But it wasn’t all bad news for the Tigers, who won a league coin toss on Saturday evening to give them the Little 4’s automatic NCS playoff berth and a probable home game to open the postseason next week.
The day, however, largely belonged to a determined Ferndale team, which had a point to prove after suffering an unexpected 35-7 road loss to the Tigers earlier in conference play.
That was the Cats’ only loss of the season, while Saturday’s defeat was the Tigers’ first of the season.
Both schools are now expected to make some noise in the postseason and challenge for a section championship and perhaps more.
The Ferndale players were clearly up for the challenge on Saturday and never trailed in the game.
After the Ferndale defense held the Tigers on their opening possession of the game, the Wildcats took over on downs at their own 35-yard line.
They would quickly drive 65 yards to the end zone, with sophomore running back Garyn McClurg scoring on a five-yard touchdown run to open the scoring with 4:35 remaining in the first quarter.
A dangerous Arcata offense, which had outscored its opponents by an average of 29.5 points a game in its nine wins this season, would respond immediately when dynamic junior quarterback Luke Lemke connected with senior receiver Dayquan Dunn on a 37-yard TD pass just three minutes later and the teams were tied at 7-7.
Check out all seven touchdowns from Saturday’s game below …
The Wildcats were forced to punt on their next possession, but it was a minor setback and they would add two more touchdowns before halftime while the Ferndale defense settled into the game nicely.
A big punt return by junior Tristen Titus late in the first half would set up a second touchdown, with impressive junior Prescott Langer capping the drive on a 13-yard TD reception from quarterback Tanner Pidgeon that put the home team up 13-7.
The ensuing kickoff was arguably the most important play of the game.
The Tigers fumbled the reception, which was recovered by junior Rolland McClurg at the Arcata 29 and the Cats capped a dominating few minutes when Pidgeon found the end zone on a two-yard run with five seconds remaining in the half to give the home team a 19-7 lead at the break.
Despite the advantage, the home fans were far from complacent.
Last season, Ferndale led the Tigers at halftime in both of their conference games and would see the lead disappear in the second half on each occasion.
This time around, however, there would be no late letdown.
Photo by Denise Grinsell – The Ferndale players and cheerleaders lined up in honor of Veterans’ Day before kickoff.
Both defenses pitched a shutout in the third quarter and the score remained the same heading into the fourth.
Lemke would add to the visitors’ tally just three minutes into the final quarter when he capped an impressive 11-play Arcata drive with a five-yard TD run and suddenly the deficit was down to six.
But if there was a prevailing sense of deja vu around a large crowd in attendance, the Ferndale players didn’t seem to notice.
An onside kick was recovered by the sure-handed Langer and Ferndale was able to take advantage of great field position, quickly driving 38 yards on four plays and adding to the lead on Garyn McClurg’s second TD run of the afternoon, this one from five yards out.
A two-point conversion pass from Pidgeon to senior receiver Jonah Anderson extended the advantage to 13 points with 7:38 remaining in the game.
But considering how dynamic this Arcata offense has been all season, the game was far from over and a two-TD lead seemed far from insurmountable.
The Ferndale defense and a physical front, however, was more than up for the challenge.
The Cats would take over on downs just a few minutes later and they were driving for the knockout punch when Arcata’s Jackson Strand intercepted a pass in the end zone to give his team hope with 2:35 remaining.
Eight plays later, the visitors capped an 80-yard drive with Lemke’s second TD run of the afternoon, this one from 10 yards out, and the deficit was cut to six.
Lemke found the end zone on a spectacular leap over a couple of Ferndale defensive players.
But with just 54 seconds on the clock, time was quickly running out for Arcata, and after Ferndale’s Luke Dixon recovered the ensuing onside kick the home fans were finally able to breath a sigh of relief.
The points total was the lowest of the season for the Tigers.
The conference championship is the first for Ferndale since 2019.
The Ferndale JVs also won their game to close out a perfect run through conference play.
