Arcata

Tigers, Warriors face off in low-scoring Little 4 showdown

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Homecoming distractions didn’t seem to be a problem for the H-DNL teams on Friday night.

Del Norte, South Fork and Arcata all celebrated their Homecoming under the lights and all three of them pulled out victories, although two had to battle all the way to final buzzer.

Up in Crescent City, the Warriors played their first home game of the year and comfortably took care of business to get their Big 4 title ambitions back on track.

The Warriors defeated Eureka 33-6 and improved to 1-1 in the Big 4 and 4-2 on the season.

At Arcata High, the Tigers won for the second straight weekend, holding on in the final minute to edge the Hoopa Warriors 13-12.

Tigers quarterback Luke Lemke, the reigning conference co-Offensive MVP, left the game early and did not return.

With the win, Arcata improves to 2-0 in the Little 4 and 3-3 overall, taking over sole possession of top spot in the conference standings, at least for one night.

In Southern Humboldt, the South Fork Cubs played their second game in five days and claimed a hard-fought victory over Potter Valley by a score of 24-20.

With the win, which was their third straight, the Cubs improved to 2-0 in the NCL III and 4-1 on the season.

Despite battling multiple injuries this season, the Hoopa Warriors gave the Tigers all they could handle and almost pulled off the upset.

The teams were tied 6-6 at halftime and the visitors would take a 12-6 lead.

Hoopa head coach Curtis Kane described it as a “good old-fashioned football game.”

“It was a dog fight of a game,” Kane said. “We had a great week of practice and it showed.”

There were several standouts for the Warriors, including senior Allen Kane, who an for close to 200 yards with one of the best games of his Hoopa career.

“Allen Kane had a player of the game performance,” the coach said. “He threw the ball well, but we relied on his legs tonight.”

The senior standout, who has been particularly impressive the past couple of games, ran in for both of his teams touchdowns.

He also broke free for a 60-yard gain deep into Arcata territory with under two minutes remaining to give his team an opportunity late in the game..

But the Arcata defense would hold firm.

Donald Hostler also had a big game for the Warriors on the defensive side of the side of the ball and finished with around 16 solo tackles, according to his coach.

“Defensively Donald Hostler had one of the best games I’ve seen him play,” Curtis Kane said. “He was all over the field.”

Carlos Anzora also impressed and threw a deep shot to Daniel Peralta to set up the Warriors’ second TD of the night.

The Hoopa players played a relatively clean game but when they were flagged it proved costly.

“I think the biggest factor for us in the game was the few penalties we did have hurt us,” the coach said.

But they battled all the way to the final buzzer and almost pulled out the victory.

“We had a few starters out that last offensive stand,” Curtis Kane said afterwards. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the end zone. But in my mind we played how I knew this team could play tonight.

“It was a great game. My boys should be holding their head high.”

No details or feedback were available for the Tigers.

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