Arcata looks big, plays big and beats the Winters Warriors for NorCal 6-AA championship
Daniel Ward was concerned with the size of the Arcata Tigers, his opponent Friday night for the CIF Northern California 6-AA championship, and the visitors from Humboldt County made their busses tip when they climbed on and off.
The bigger guys won as Arcata prevailed 35-14 over the host Winters Warriors in Yolo County in front of an overflow crowd, packed in to catch small schools compete on a grass field.
Arcata advances to the state finals next weekend in Southern California, while Winters finished its best season in 30 years at 12-1.
Luke Lemke led the charge for Arcata, the 6-foot-3 junior dual-threat quarterback passing for two touchdowns and then sealing it with an 11-yard scoring run for the final tally.
Winters was inside the Arcata 5-yard line twice but came away with no points, and a Winters defense that allowed 50 points coming in finally met its match.
“Football is truly a game of inches, and they won those inches,” Ward told The Sacramento Bee afterward. “Thought the game should have been a lot closer. Hat’s off to (Lemke). He was the best player we saw all year and the best player on the field tonight. We knew the key was stopping him on the ground and we just could not tackle him.”
An alum of the school who quarterbacked a 13-0 Winters team as a senior in 1994, Ward coached its best team this season, his 17th as head coach. Football games has for decades been a social center in this rural town big on agriculture and high school sports.
“It was a great experience for our kids and an even better one for our community,” Ward said. “I think the entire town showed up to support us tonight and that was pretty special to see. Now that we got a taste of it, we can’t wait to go back.”
Ward said of the season and this team, “Been doing this a long time now and this was the most fun I have ever had coaching. They are a great football players and even better young men, and they make you look forward to coming to work on a daily basis. The loss was obviously tough, but we have to focus on the good times, and this is still one of the best teams in the history of Winters High School.”
Jesse Madsen’s 20-yard touchdown pulled Winters to within 14-7, and Lane Brown hit Gio Jimenez for a 55-yard touchdown for the team’s other points.
This story was originally published December 7, 2024 at 12:08 AM.