Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Luke Lemke helped lead the Tigers to a state championship in 2024.
By Ray Hamill — The Eureka Loggers will be tested right out of the starting gates on the football fields this coming season, with a huge all-local showdown against state champs Arcata on opening weekend.
The Loggers turned the corner a year ago, putting a winless campaign in 2023 behind them and posting just their second official conference win since 2018 with a dominating 41-6 rout of St. Bernard’s.
And this year, they’ll be hoping to build on that and return to the North Coast Section playoffs for the first time since 2018.
But they’ll be tested right off the bat, with a difficult trip to play Arcata at McKinleyville High School on Saturday night and a showdown against electrifying Tigers quarterback Luke Lemke.
The dynamic Arcata senior playmaker, who was the catalyst in the historic state run in 2024, is a threat every time he touches the ball and is capable of taking it to the house every snap.
The two schools faced off against each other on opening weekend last year too and the Tigers prevailed 22-0, handing the Loggers their only shutout loss of the campaign.
And because of that, Eureka head coach Sam Edmonds is well aware of the challenge Lemke poses.
“Week one, we know what we’re preparing for and that he’s a game changer,” Edmonds said. “He’s hard to tackle.”
This season the Loggers will also face off against 2023 state champs Ferndale in a matchup that will see Edmonds go head-to-head against his former coach Clint McClurg, who was an assistant at Eureka when Edmonds played there as a junior during the 2007 season.
The Loggers, who will play their home games at the Redwood Bowl while ongoing renovations continue at Albee Stadium, will also play non-conference games against Novato and Shasta.
This year sees a change in format for the Big 4, with home-and-away matchups for the four schools.
And that should add to the intrigue.
“I definitely feel it’s going to put a lot more pressure on teams to win league,” the Eureka coach said. “It’s going to give coaches time to prepare to fix things (the second time around).”
It also should be a very competitive conference.
“Coaches want to and hope to contest, but my biggest thing is I’m looking to be more competitive than last year,” Edmonds said. “Honestly, I think (the Big 4) can go any way. I know Fortuna has two great running backs and St. Bernard’s has several studs that are going to be tough.”
And then there’s the five-time defending conference champs up in Crescent City.
“Del Norte’s always going to be Del Norte,” Edmonds added. “I don’t know what they put in the water up there, but Del Norte’s always tough.”
