Prep football | Undefeated Arcata, Ferndale face off for first place of the Little 4
Two H-DNL football teams have made it to Week 8 undefeated - this week they'll face off for sole possession of first place and have the upper hand in Little 4 conference play as the Ferndale Wildcats head north to play the Arcata Tigers.
The two 6-0 schools will play at McKinleyville High School (for a Tigers home game) at 7:30 p.m. Friday night, with each school having already topped the two other Little 4 schools. The Wildcats come in after playing at McKinleyville last week where they beat the Panthers 56-0. Ferndale lived on the ground, totaling 284 rushing yards with junior quarterback Tanner Pidgeon and sophomore running back Garyn McClurg each finishing with over 90 yards apiece.
Ferndale is riding a 12-game winning streak dating back to last year. Their last loss? Last October against Arcata. The Wildcats' last loss before that? The Tigers again, with Arcata beating the Wildcats twice en route to a Little 4 title. Arcata also cruised to a win last week, beating Hoopa Valley 41-6 on the road. Through two games, Arcata outscored Little 4 opponents 92-6 while having a season-long +163 point differential through six games.
Even though both teams play in the Little 4, they've proven that they're the top teams in the H-DNL, with the Tigers having beaten Eureka, Fortuna and Del Norte and the Wildcats having beaten St. Bernard's and Fortuna to set up the heavyweight battle Friday night.
While Arcata and Ferndale fight for first place, Hoopa will head to McKinleyville to face the Panthers on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. with the winner jumping into third place of the Little 4. Both the Warriors (2-4) and Panthers (0-6) were beat soundly a week ago, but this might be the Panthers' best shot at a win this season, following this week the Panthers will host Arcata before going on the road for Ferndale and Hoopa to close out their season.
McKinleyville has been outscored by 273 points on the year, while Hoopa has been outscored by just 52 points. With the Warriors' offense centered around junior quarterback Allen Kane, junior Donald Hostler and senior wide receiver Brandon Romero, the Warriors have averaged 18.667 points per game this season.
The South Fork Cubs (0-4) will look for their first league win on Saturday on the road versus Branson High School at 1 p.m. Last week, the Cubs dropped a 44-42 thriller at home in their league opener, the Cubs still have yet to win a game since their North Coast 8-person Division 1 Section title last November.
H-DNL action gets off to an early start this week out in Tennessee, with the St. Bernard's Crusaders (5-1) in Memphis against Harding Academy on Thursday night for a 5 p.m. kickoff to wrap up the Crusaders two-game stint in Tennessee.
St. Bernard's won their first game in Tennessee, defeating Grace Baptist Academy last week 23-10. The Crusaders ran for over 200 yards while four different players completed passes, including sophomore Garrett Shanahan connecting with junior Quentin Ikeya for a 75-yard touchdown on Shanahan's only passing attempt of the game. Shanahan also grabbed four catches for 53 yards and a touchdown from Crusaders junior quarterback Tyler Hinrichs.
The Del Norte Warriors (4-2) will host the Eureka Loggers (2-4) on Friday night in Crescent City in a non-league battle between Big 4 foes. Del Norte has won three in a row entering Friday's game, in that streak Del Norte has scored 116 points while allowing just seven with the Warriors' defense earning a pair of shutouts against McKinleyville and Skyline.
Last week's Warriors win was closer, as Del Norte went on the road to play Oakland Tech and eked out a 13-7 win with senior quarterback Aidan Rice scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns. Senior running back Benjamin Borges led the Warriors with 127 rushing yards on 14 carries.
The Loggers also were winners a week ago, beating Biggs 43-0 in their best offensive performance of the year. Biggs is now 4-2 after the loss, with both losses coming against schools from Eureka, as St. Bernard's beat them 20-14 back in September.
The 2-5 Fortuna Huskies are the lone H-DNL team on a bye this week as they prep for Big 4 play that begins next week after the Huskies have dropped four straight games.
Dylan McNeill can be reached at 707-441-0526.
This story was originally published October 17, 2024, 2:01 PM.
