Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Luke Lemke in action for the Arcata Tigers on Friday night.
By Ray Hamill — Tales of the Tigers’ demise are apparently a little premature.
On Friday night, Arcata broke a late tie on a seven-yard Luke Lemke touchdown run with 1:34 remaining and held on down the stretch to beat Del Norte 34-27 at McKinleyville High School.
This was a statement victory for the home team and it was achieved with another dazzling performance by Lemke, who showed once again why he is one of the most exciting talents the H-DNL has seen in recent times.
The senior quarterback was a nightmare matchup for the Del Norte defense all night long with his game-changing scrambling runs and passing, and he finished the game with three touchdown runs and a TD pass.
It was an exciting and back-and-forth game.
Trailing 27-13 going into the fourth quarter, the visiting Warriors rallied with back-to back TDs to tie the game with six minutes remaining.
But that was more than enough time for the electrifying Lemke, who drove the Arcata offense deep into Del Norte territory once again and answered with the late TD run to secure the victory and hand the Warriors their first loss of the season.
He wasn’t the only hero for the home team.
On the final play of the first half, Arcata’s Chase Bickmore intercepted a Kanyon Starkey pass right as the Del Norte QB was about to be sacked, and he returned it 55 yards to the end zone to give his team a six-point lead at the break.
That pick six ultimately proved to be the difference in a tight game.
Starkey, who had a good game, opened his team’s account midway through the first quarter on a QB sneak and the Warriors led 7-0 going into the second quarter.
Check out some of the game highlights below …
But the Tigers would answer on an 11-yard Lemke TD run with four minutes remaining in the half, and Bickmore’s big play gave them their first lead of the game right before halftime.
The Warriors seemed up for the challenge early in the third quarter and tied things up again on a one-yard William McCovey TD run on their first possession of the half.
The Tigers, however, responded on the ensuing possession, quickly driving deep into Del Norte territory and re-taking the lead on a 10-yard Lemke TD run.
After a big fourth-down stop by their defense, Lemke and the Arcata offense went to work again and scored their second TD of the quarter on a three-yard pass from Lemke to Eli Greenway.
That score was set up on a big completion from Lemke to Greenway and the Tigers led 27-13 heading into the final period.
But the Warriors were far from done at that stage, and on the very first play of the fourth quarter Starkey threw his first TD pass of the season, connecting with Santiago Velasco on a 60-yard score.
After a big stop by their defense, the Warriors tied things up again on an 11-yard Starkey TD run midway through the quarter, but it was the home team that had the final say.
McCovey finished with 111 yards rushing on 11 carries, while teammate Tobias Meyers added 60 yards rushing on nine carries.
No final stats were available for Arcata.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 1-1 on the season, while the Warriors dropped to 2-1.
In JV action, Del Norte improved to 3-0 with a dominating 41-0 win to get the night’s action under way.
Also on Friday night, the South Fork Cubs kicked off their season with a dominating 62-8 win over Happy Camp in Miranda.
