Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Luke Lemke celebrates one of his touchdown runs on Friday night.

By Ray Hamill — The Arcata Tigers lived up to their billing as the No. 1 seeds in the North Coast Section Division-6 playoffs on Friday night and then some, scoring on 10 of their 11 possessions on the way to a dominating 69-34 over Petaluma.

The No. 5 Trojans had no answer for the best offense in the H-DNL and the electrifying Luke Lemke who accounted for five of his team’s touchdowns, running in for three and passing for two.

The win sets up an NCS championship game showdown against No. 2 Miramonte, which defeated Benicia 6-0 in the other D-6 semifinal.

That game will be played here in Humboldt County as the Tigers look to secure a first-ever section title in the sport and it is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. next Saturday afternoon at McKinleyville High School,

And judging by Friday’s performance the Tigers will be tough to beat.

In other NCS action on Friday night, the Del Norte Warriors lost their Division-7 semifinal at Moreau Catholic, 14-7.

We’ll have much more on that game on Saturday.

The Tigers started somewhat sluggish in their game with some uncharacteristic mistakes and way too many penalties proving costly early on.

In particular, the Arcata defense had problems containing the Trojans offense in the opening half and the visitors scored on four of their first five possessions of the game to lead 28-21 midway through the second quarter.

But the Tigers grew into the game and would not give up another score until late in the fourth quarter, at which stage the game was well out of reach.

Lemke and the Arcata offense were simply unstoppable and they have opened the playoffs in dominating fashion, scoring an incredible 121 points in their first two postseason games.

A regular-season-ending loss to Ferndale appears to have lit a fire for a determined Tigers team.

The Trojans began the stronger of the two teams and caught the Tigers off guard on the opening kickoff, recovering an onside kick.

Two plays later, Petaluma quarterback Ryan Landry ran in for a 49-yard TD and a high-scoring first half was under way.

Check out Cal Tucker’s incredible fourth-quarter catch below …

It didn’t take the Tigers long to answer, and just four plays later Alex Greenway opened the home team’s account on a two-yard TD run, a play that was set up by an impressive 29-yard run by Lemke.

A Paul VandenBranden PAT would put the Tigers up 7-6.

The Trojans would answer on their next drive, methodically driving with a ground attack the Arcata defense had trouble reading and they led 14-7 midway through the opening quarter.

The Tigers turned the ball over on downs on their second possession of the game, the only time the Petaluma defense could stop them all night.

But a Cal Tucker interception on the ensuring Petaluma drive gave the ball back to the Tigers and they quickly drove 80 yards on 11 plays, finding the end zone on Greenway’s second TD run of the night, this one from five yards out just six seconds from the end of the first quarter to pull the home team within one (14-13).

It was shaping up to be an exciting and high-scoring game and that trend would continue into the second quarter.

The Trojans added to their lead less than 90 seconds into the period on a 28-yard Jonah Crichton TD run and they led 20-13.

But their defense just could not contain Lemke and the Tigers, who scored just three plays later on a 25-yard TD run by the outstanding junior quarterback.

Check out all three of Luke Lemke’s TD runs below …

A two-point conversion pass to Tucker would put the Tigers up  21-20, but once again it didn’t last long and the Trojans found the end zone again just five plays into their next drive to lead 28-21.

Neither defense appeared capable of stopping the other team’s offense.

But just as it appeared as if this was a game that would eventually go to whoever had the ball on the final drive of the night, something clicked with the Tigers defense and they suddenly began to find some success.

The Tigers would score again on their very next possession, this time on a 19-yard TD pass from Lemke to Lennon Gieder, a score that was set up by another brilliant run by the quarterback, one that saw him pick up a fumbled ball and scramble down the sideline for a gain of more than 20 yards.

Gieder’s TD and a two-point conversion run by Lemke put Arcata up 29-28.

They would not trail for the remainder of the night.

Growing in stature, the Arcata defense forced a punt on the Trojan’s next possession in the final minute the half and Jackson Strand displayed his tremendous speed taking the return all the way to the end zone to give his team a 35-28 lead and plenty of momentum going into the break.

The second half belonged to the Tigers and their defense started much better than they did in the opening half, with Xzavier Gruetzmacher recovering a fumble just two plays in to set up yet another Arcata score, this one on a 14-yard TD pass from Lemke to Dayquan Dunn.

That put the home team up 41-28 and you could sense the game was beginning to get away from an overmatched Petaluma defense.

A quick three-and-out by the Arcata defense then set up a 51-yard TD run by Lemke and the Tigers stretched the lead to 20 points less than five minutes into the third quarter.

Gieder, who had an outstanding all-around game, intercepted a Landry pass just two plays into Petaluma’s ensuing possession and the Tigers would make it count on the very next play when Lemke broke free for a 70-yard TD run.

The Tigers carried a 55-28 lead into the fourth quarter and quickly added to their tally on Greenway’s third TD run of the night, this one from two yards out.

And they still weren’t done.

A fourth takeaway by the Arcata defense on a fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff would set up a 10th TD for the home team, this one on a one-yard Tony Buchanan run that stretched the lead to 69-28.

All four Petaluma turnovers resulted in Arcata touchdowns.

The visitors would score on their final possession of the night with just four minutes remaining to prevent a second-half shutout, but it was way too little way too late.

Tucker capped a big individual night with an incredible catch at the sideline to set up Buchanan’s late TD.