By Ray Hamill — There were no Homecoming week distractions for the McKinleyville Panthers last week.
On the contrary, the Mack High student-athletes seemed to use it as motivation and enjoyed an outstanding week in multiple sports.
And that makes them our choice for teams and athletes of the week this week.
In football, the Panthers enjoyed one of their biggest wins in years, stunning the rest of the H-DNL with a thrilling come-from-behind win over a Ferndale team that was riding a 20-game regular-season winning streak.
The McKinleyville girls soccer and volleyball teams each also posted big wins in what has been a challenging fall for both programs, while the school’s boys soccer team also won two games as head coach Brady Burtchett and his players get set for what they hope will be a good postseason.
On top of that, earlier in the week McKinleyville senior Ingrid Monaghan closed out the H-DNL girls golf season with a huge final round to secure a first-ever league title.
The clutch Monaghan, who had dominated the early rounds of league play but trailed Del Norte’s Jaylee Keeling by one stroke in the season standings heading into the final round at Baywood, rose to the challenge to win the title and was named last week’s Humboldt Sports Athlete last week.
All in all, it was an impressive week for the school, which was celebrating Homecoming and honoring a stellar class of inductees to the school hall of fame, including the 1996/97 boys basketball team.
That seemed to inspire the current teams.
The big story of the week was the Panthers’ big win in football on Friday night.
Heard coach Jason Benge;’s team trailed for much of the night and was held scoreless through the opening two quarters.
But, perhaps inspired by the Homecoming festivities at halftime, the Panthers would claw their way back into contention after the break, scoring four second-half touchdowns to pull level late in the game.
Senior Lucas Jones then nailed a 35-yard pressure-filled field goal attempt with just seconds remaining in the game to give his team its first lead of the night.
And that would prove to be just enough to secure a 32-29 win that Panthers fans will talk about for years to come.
For good measure that victory also secured at least a share of this year’s Redwood League championship, a title they can claim outright with a win over Arcata in their final league game next week.
But the football team’s win was far from the only big story of the week.
The following afternoon, the McKinleyville girls soccer team had a memorable day.
The Panthers beat South Fork 2-1 for their first win of the season.
Junior Abigail Pimentel and senior Emily Mather scored in the breakthrough win, as the Panthers ended a run of 26 winless games dating back to September of last year.
It was a nice way for the team’s seniors — Mather, Cambria Hartgrave and Kari Hakenen — to close out their high school careers.
The Panthers also enjoyed a big win on the volleyball court, closing out the season in style with a huge performance on an emotional Senior Night.
The Mack girls knocked off neighbor and rival Arcata in straight sets, securing just their second league win of the campaign and denying the Tigers a share of the Pacific League championship.
More importantly, it was a great way to honor former teammate Nateya Dowd, who sadly passed away earlier this year and would have been a senior on this year’s team.
“So much love was shown tonight throughout our team, from the families and the fans,” McKinleyville head coach Ashley Washburn said. “We celebrated our sweet Teya that should have been out there playing and cheering with us, but we know she has been with us every step of the way.”
The seniors — Maggie Morris, Karly Beck, Ava Sundberg, Lili Loomis, Hazel Marshall and Beatrice Bechis — all played a big role in the victory.
And rounding out a big week for the school, the boys soccer team posted a pair of wins to build some momentum ahead of the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs.
The Mack boys beat South Fork and St. Bernard’s by identical 6-0 scores.
All in all, it was a great week for McKinleyville High sports.
