The Humboldt-Del North Athletic League is in year two of its realignment as the Big 4 and Little 4, and like last year when St. Bernard’s-Eureka was moved up to join the tougher schools competitive equity wise, it’s not looking like much will change to start this season.
All four league members, defending champion Eureka, Del Norte-Crescent City, Fortuna and St. Bernard’s, each made noise in the playoffs, with Eureka coming close to playing for a CIF state Bowl Game championship, and Fortuna upsetting Moreau Catholic to win the North Coast Section Division 4 title.
“Eureka and Del Norte are both big and physical and will be favorites in our league until somebody proves otherwise,” said St. Bernard’s Coach Matt Tomlin.
There will be one new coach in the league but he has a familiar last name. Read on into the capsules to find out who he is and how the teams stack up.
EUREKA (12-1, 3-0)
Eureka Coach Jason White didn’t want to take a chance with a coin flip, but it was taken out of his and the team’s hands when Cardinal Newman opted to chance it and not choose to play for an NCS Division III title.
“I definitely didn’t want a coin flip. It goes against everything I believe in. We wanted to play for an NCS championship,” remarked Jason White, who enters his seventh year at the Loggers helm.
Instead, they flipped the coin and Eureka won the flip, and then came within a 27-20 loss to Menlo-Atherton-Atherton of playing for a CIF state Division 3-AA Bowl game championship Menlo-Atherton ended up winning in a 21-7 victory over Lincoln-San Diego.
Rather than look back at what could have been, and despite losing a very talented quarterback and several other skill position players, White is looking ahead.
“We won’t miss a beat,” was White’s response when asked about replacing quarterback and league MVP Cruz Montana with 6-0, 180-pound senior Trevor Bell.
Bell saw some playing time last season in six games and passed for 196 yards and three touchdowns.
“Any other time in Eureka history he would have been a three-year starter, but he’s sitting behind the league MVP,” continued White. “He’s intelligent, and excellent athlete and throws a good ball. It’s his turn and we expect him to get the job done.”
White returns two All HDNL – Big 4 First Team and one Honorable Mention selections from last season.
Lamarie Dunn, a 5-8, 150-pound senior was All League First Team after excelling on offense and defense. He rushed for 282 yards and three touchdowns, had 399 yards and five TDs receiving, and as a defensive back Dunn recorded 36 tackles, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. With two running backs with over 400 yards rushing and two with over 250 yards, and with six wide receivers with close to 2,000 yards receiving and 23 TDs combined, graduating, it would appear the ball will be in Dunn’s hands even more this season.
“Dunn is one of our best players, and we’re definitely going to get him the ball,” White remarked. “But the nature of our offense is we spread the ball around and we have some other kids we can go to.”
One of those other kids is Josiah Graham, a 5-11, 160-pound wide receiver that had 295 yards receiving and one TD last season. He will also help Dunn anchor the defensive backs where last season he had 16 tackles and two interceptions.
The second All League First Team selection from last year is 6-5, 235-pound senior Myles Meynell. He will anchor both the offensive and defensive lines and according to White just received an offer from San Jose State. Last season at defensive end he had 10 tackles for loss and three sacks, plus a fumble recovery.
Chase Steubing, a 6-1, 205-pound junior that was Honorable Mention last season at defensive end where he had 47 tackles with 12 for loss, including four sacks, plus two fumble recoveries, will be moving to linebacker this season where he will anchor the linebacking corps along with junior newcomer Keeb Herr.
Another new face White is looking to for big things this season is Drew Jensen. The 5-11, 240-pound senior will start at center and nose guard.
“Every year our goal is to be one of the top teams in the NCS,” White said. “We live by the cliché ‘one game at a time’ and Placer High school has been our sole focus since we returned from our team camp in June.”
Placer-Auburn will come into Eureka this Friday after a 12-1 season last year and a loss in the title game of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs.
FORTUNA (9-5, 0-3)
The Huskies won a non-league match-up with Del Norte but lost the league game and also lost to St. Bernard’s and Eureka to blank in league, but 2017 Prep2Prep NCS Coach of the Year Mike Benbow and his boys had the last laugh last season after beating Del Norte and then upsetting Moreau Catholic-Hayward in the NCS Division IV title game after coming home from the Bay Area with a 61-35 victory.
Unlike 2017, when Fortuna won the NCS D4 title and went on to win a CIF state Division 5-A Bowl game title after going to Orange County and beating Katella-Anaheim, 54-33, they didn’t get an opportunity to advance because last year’s fires made them and Moreau have to choose between a coin flip and foregoing an NCS title game in favor of a chance to go the Northern Regionals, and both chose to not flip a coin.
“That was last year and now it’s this year and we’re reloading,” said Benbow, who has a young team with only one returner to make All League, and that’s Daeden Taylor who was Honorable Mention as a wide receiver and defensive back.
Taylor, a 6-1, 170-pound senior, moves over to quarterback but will still see some time at wide receiver on offense. Max Hough, a 6-2, 190-pound junior will also play quarterback.
“We have an interesting dynamic at quarterback. Daeden runs the offense real well but Max will get some reps at quarterback as well,” Benbow said. “It’s still an open competition.”
The primary running back will be5-9, 170-pound junior Levi Nyberg, and the number one wide receiver will be 6-4, 180-pound junior Branson Gans.
The offensive and defensive lines will be anchored by 6-2, 280-pound senior Luciano Medina, and 6-0, 250-pound senior Cole Ivy.
The linebacking situation is still up in the air but according to Benbow “there are a lot of guys in the mix but no one main standout.”
The secondary looks solid with Taylor and Gans leading the way.
“We actually have some returning experience at defensive back and it’s the one spot I feel good about, but you need all the pieces,” Benbow remarked.
“We’re young but we have a hard working group of kids,” continued Benbow. “The goal is to be better at the end than in the beginning of the season.”
Benbow and his boys get a stern test in a season opener against Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa on Thursday night at Rec Park in Healdsburg.
DEL NORTE-CRESCENT CITY(9-3, 2-1)
After assisting Lou Nova for six years as what he calls a “right hand man to the coordinators,” 38-year old Nick White, the younger brother of Eureka head coach Jason White, takes the reins at the helm of the Warriors.
He inherits a team that finished second to his big brother’s team in HDNL – Big 4 action and made it to the NCS Division IV semifinals before losing 30-6 in a rubber match with league rival Fortuna. Del Norte had lost a non-league match-up with Fortuna, 62-32, but beat them 49-42 in league.
“I’ve been around the program coaching and I have a degree in teaching, so that helped me get the job,” said White, whose day job is working at nearby Pelican Bay state prison.
One thing White has is a lot of returning talent except for All League First Team two-way lineman Eli Larson. According to White he would have been the team’s best returner but hurt his knee during the offseason.
All League First Team quarterback OJ Calleja is back. Last season the 6-0, 200-pound senior passed for 10 TDs and ran for seven more scores.
Two other All League First Team selections return to anchor the offensive line, 5-11, 265-pound senior Luke King will play center and help anchor the defensive line at tackle. Anthony Slayton, a 6-2, 220-pound senior will play guard, and also anchor the linebacking corps at middle linebacker. Last season Slayton led the team with 80 tackles including 15 for loss.
Another player that will be key on the offensive line and as a linebacker with All League Honorable Mention selection Tanner Forkner, a 5-10, 205-pound junior.
White says running back will be by committee but the primary back with be 5-8, 175-pound junior Levi Cox-Cooley. Kaleb Price, a 6-5, 200-pound junior will be the primary wide receiver and will be the backup quarterback, and also will play defensive back. According to White he uses his height and “goes up and catches the ball real well.”
Junior Gio Gonzalez will be the top returning defensive back and won’t start but can fill in on offense as well.
Samuel Schauerman, a 5-11, 250-pound sophomore will be a two-way starting line that White says will “be the newcomer to an already solid line.
Another newcomer that isn’t really new is 6-0, 245-pound Kai Baugh. He played at Del Norte as a sophomore before moving to Washington last year, but returns for his senior season and will play defensive end.
As to talk about goals and the outlook this season White had this to say. “We want to be the most physical team every game that we play. We’re excited and looking forward to the opportunity that’s in front of us week to week. Our preseason has challenging opponents that will help us get ready for what is the hardest small school league in NorCal.”
White and his boys certainly do have a challenging non-league schedule, and it begins with them travelling to NCS D4 runner-up Moreau Catholic-Hayward on Friday night.
ST. BERNARD’S-EUREKA (7-5, 1-2)
Despite only going 1-2 in its first year in the Big 4 after losing to Eureka and Del Norte, the Crusaders had a 56-54 overtime win in league over a Fortuna team that went on to win the NCS Division IV title, while St. Bernard’s had its season come to an end in Novato in heartbreaking 49-47 D4 second round loss to San Marin.
There were some skill players lost to graduation, but the good news for Crusaders’ faithful is Coach Matt Tomlin, who enters his seventh season at the St. Bernard’s helm, has a ton of returning talent, led by three returning All HDNL – Big 4 First Team selections, dual threat 6-1, 185-pound senior quarterback Will Omey, and two-way standouts Lane Thrap and Justin Hagler.
Last season Omey passed for 2,271 yards and 31 TDs and rushed for 1,413 yards and 19 more scores. He also played strong safety on defense where he had 69 tackles and three interceptions.
Thrap, a 6-3, 175-pound senior wide receiver and free safety, had 48 catches for 809 yards and 12 touchdowns on offense, and 61 tackles and seven interceptions he returned 155 yards combines on defense. Hagler, a 6-2, 200-pound senior wide receiver and linebacker, hauled in 47 receptions for 737 yards and 10 TDs, rushed 227 yards and one more score, and on defense he had 92 tackles, three sacks and two fumble recoveries. He also did some kickoff returning.
With that kind of returning talent it’s no surprise Tomlin answered “not at all” when asked if he was making any changes in his offense this season.
“In our spread offense we want to get the ball in the hands of Thrap and Hagler who will be on opposite sides to spread the field,” Tomlin said. “That opens it up for Will (Omey) to run the ball up the middle.
Tomlin also plans on giving the ball more to Talimaivao Fonoti. Last year the senior running back rushed for 206 yards and five TDs, had one TD receiving, and he also will anchor the defensive line where the 6-0, 215-pounder will play defensive end where he was All League Honorable Mention after recording 71 tackles with 5.5 sacks, a pass interception, fumble recovery and forced fumble.
Another linebacker to watch for that Tomlin says is fast and can cover the whole field and that made All League Honorable Mention as a freshman is 5-10, 175-pound sophomore Jacob Smallwood. He had 70 tackles, five sacks and a fumble recovery last season.
The offensive line will be anchored by two three-year starters, senior center and All League Honorable Mention Cole Petrusha, and senior right guard Harmon Daniel.
A newcomer to look for that played a half season at Eureka last year before transferring, sitting out, and is now eligible, is speedy sophomore Peyton Smith.
“We have to stay healthy,” said Tomlin when asked about the outlook this season. “We are talented but thin. We have 13 varsity players and 12 young kids playing varsity because we don’t have JV football. If we stay healthy and the young kids develop we could have a very good season.”
It all starts on Friday on the road at El Molino-Forestville.
