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The Arcata Tigers remain in the chase for a third straight Little 4 championship after a 40-26 win over the McKinleyville Panthers in football on Friday night.

After a lopsided loss at Ferndale last week, the Arcata players responded with a good first half and carried a 26-6 lead into halftime, with standout senior quarterback Luke Lemke returning to the lineup after missing last week’s game because of a injury.

However, a resilient Panthers team would cut into the deficit with a big third quarter, before the Tigers reasserted their superiority with a strong finish to end any hopes of a McKinleyville comeback.

“It was a really good game,” McKinleyville head coach Jason Benge said. “I love how we keep battling back. I just wish we didn’t dig ourselves a big hole (every week).”

No scoring details or stats were available for Arcata, but, according to Benge, the Tigers dominated early in the trenches, which helped them build the first-half lead.

Junior Duuya Smith did a good job running the ball behind the Arcata O-line.

“He just killed us behind that line,” Benge said.

Senior quarterback Ruger Baxter was the catalyst in a big third quarter for the Panthers, overcoming a disappointing start to the night with four touchdown passes.

Baxter, who has been a bright spot all season for his team, threw a pair of TDs to both Trevor Marsh and Blake Santos.

“He didn’t have that great of a first half,” Benge said of his signal caller. “And I give him credit, because he battled back and had a really good game in the second half.”

Santos, who just returned from injury, also stepped up and made some big contributions at cornerback in addition to his two touchdowns on offense.

Senior Orphao Grande also stepped up at receiver for Mack, pulling in three big catches to help key a good third quarter for his team, receptions that helped tp keep some scoring drives going.

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“I felt our offensive line and defensive line in the second half stepped up, because they were getting dominated in that first half,” Benge said. “We did a good job shutting (the Tigers) down in the third quarter.”

But after the Panthers had pulled within one score (26-20), in Benge’s own words, Lemke then took over, scoring on a long run to widen the gap once again.

Team captain Charles Chivrell also had a good night for McKinleyville.

The lineman, who usually plays just on offense, played nose tackle as well on Friday and had an immediate impact.

Benge also praised his coordinators — Caleb Martinez on offense and Mettah Kuska on defense — both of whom are recent Mack High graduates and each of whom is having a big impact on the sidelines this fall.

“Our offensive and defensive coordinators made adjustments at halftime that really paid off for us in the second half,” the head coach said. “They’re young coordinators and they did a really good job with their halftime adjustments, and I’m really proud of them.”

With the win, Arcata improved to 3-1 in conference and 4-4 overall, while McKinleyville dropped to 0-4 and 2-6.

The Tigers remain second in the Little 4 standings, one win behind conference leader Ferndale (4-0 in the L4, 8-0 overall).

In JV action on Friday, the Panthers kept their championship hopes on track with a 28-0 win over Arcata.

With the victory, McKinleyville improved to 3-1 in the Little 4 and 5-3 overall, while Arcata dropped to 0-4 and 0-8.

The Panthers remain one win behind conference leaders Ferndale.