By Ray Hamill — It’s been a spring of adjustment for Arcata’s Luke Lemke, as he prepares to take the next step in what has been a thrilling career so far, and one he hopes will continue for several more years.

The Tigers two-sport star is now living in SoCal where he is preparing for life as a Rustler after committing his future to Golden West College, a JC in Huntington Beach.

Lemke certainly had his choice of college teams after a stellar playing career with the Tigers, both on the gridiron and the basketball courts, but made the decision to join one of the top community college football programs in the state.

And he has been practicing with his new teammates and coaches this spring, as he adapts to a new position.

However, he received some bad news this week, when he was told he has a double fracture in his wrist that will require surgery and keep him out for the fall season.

But in much the same way it was almost impossible to bring him down on the football fields for the past few years, Lemke is refusing to let the setback bring down his collegiate ambitions.

He says he will grayshirt this fall and is already eying a return to the field for the 2027 season.

He suffered the injury during a basketball tournament game in December, but didn’t realize the severity of it until recently.

“I thought it was just a little sprain and played through it,” he said. “It didn’t hurt that much in the games, and after the season it seemed to get better a little bit.

“But then it got pretty bad and I talked to the trainers here and got an Xray and found out I have two fractures in my wrist.”

Lemke will undergo surgery, most likely later this month, before beginning rehab, but he is now certain to miss the upcoming season.

But he also appears to be taking it all in his stride, all of which will come as no surprise to anyone who has watched him play at any stage over the past three years.

It’s in his DNA.

Check out some Lemle highlights, including three touchdowns from a playoff game against Petaluma above, as well as the state championship winning score immediately below, and a game-clinching TD against Ferndale during his sophomore year …

Lemke is a three-time league MVP, having claimed the award twice in football — including as a sophomore in his first ever year playing the sport — and once in basketball.

He will go down as one of the greatest ever scrambling quarterbacks in H-DNL football and leaves in his wake an impressive legacy of success that included two league titles in his three years playing high school football, as well as three league titles in basketball.

He says he considered playing basketball in college, especially during his early high school years, but deep down he’s known football was where his future lay since he first began frustrating opposing defenses in his sophomore year.

“In my freshman year I didn’t even play football,” he said. “I just wanted to play basketball, so originally I wanted to play basketball in college.”

He received scholarship offers for both sports and admits “it was a little bit tempting” to stay close to home and play basketball at Cal Poly Humboldt.

“But I think I knew I wanted to play football,” he added.

And with that in mind, he chose to join the Rustlers, one of the most successful programs in California JC football and a team that reached last year’s state championship game, where they barely fell 28-27 to San Mateo.

Lemke has family in the area and is living with his grandmother, which has made the move to Orange County a whole lot easier.

Submitted photo

Photo by Kenneth Tinkham

He moved there earlier this year to join his new coaches and teammates for spring practice, and it has been everything he could have hoped for, the injury aside.

“I’ve enjoyed my communication with the coaches and living in SoCal with my grandmother,” he said. “I’ve been here for the last three months and I’ve built some good relationships with my teammates and coaches.”

The switch has been an adjustment for the 17-year-old in more ways than one.

After playing quarterback for the Tigers and thriving at the position, he will play receiver for the Rustlers.

But it’s a move he is embracing.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s been fun so far,” he said. “I’m happy to do it. The Division-1 programs that were interested in me, only one was interested in me playing quarterback and the rest wanted me to play receiver or safety. And I’ve had fun with it.”

Another reason he chose the Golden West Rustlers is because of their reputation for sending players on to Division-1 programs.

“There’s been a lot of Division-1 (scouts) watching our practices every day,” he added. “It’s a pretty cool spot to be.”

So too was Arcata High, and Lemke says he enjoyed this time as a Tiger, both on the basketball court and football field.

And of course it will come as no surprise to anyone who watched Arcata’s incredible march to a first-ever state title in football two years ago as to what Lemke remembers the most from his time at the school.

“I think definitely the state championship,” he said. “That was a great period of time and a great group.”

But it’s not the only thing he’ll remember from his high school career.

He says one of his favorite moments was rushing for a state record 432 yards and seven touchdowns against McKinleyville last fall, as well as the two thrilling comeback victories over Ferndale during his sophomore year, two wins that helped secure the first of two league titles during his time with the team.

“That was fun,” he said with a chuckle.

As for his future, while the schedule has been put back a year because of the injury, the plan remains the same.

He wants to play a year at Golden West and move on to a Division-1 program, something that would appear to be well with his reach.

And he will major in one of this “big three” options, either Economics, Finance or Business Administration.

He also expressed his appreciation to the many people that have helped him on his way, citing his parents and step parents as his biggest influences, as well as a former teacher and coach.

“I really have a great support team around me,” he said. “One of my biggest influences was my eighth-grade basketball coach, coach (Jason) Francis. He’s really been a mentor for me and we’ve stayed close.

“I still talk to him about everything. He’s definitely my guy.”

Lemke also expressed his gratitude to Arcata coaches Matt Magers (football) and Kellen Maynard (boys basketball), as well as Tigers varsity girls coach Charlie Espinoza, who worked closely with Lemke earlier in his career.

“Coach Kellen and coach Magers, those guys have helped me out tremendously, kind of guiding me and putting me in a position to win,” Lemke said, “And Charlie Espinoza. He worked with me a lot in my freshman year, and he’s probably my best friend really.”

For someone who has achieved so much, Lemke remains grateful to everyone who has helped him and no matter where his journey will take him from here he will always be a proud Arcata Tiger.

“I want to give a big thank you to all my coaches and my family and all the fans that came out to support me and all the kids that came up to me,” he said. “It was a fun high school run and I’m happy to be an Arcata Tiger.”