Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – St. Bernard’s senior Lane Thrap

By Ray Hamill — Two teams, two NorCal regional showdowns, two state bowl berths on the line.

And an entire community behind both.

Are you ready for some football history?

Because we might just get some this Friday night and hopefully next weekend as well.

We might just get the sort of week that will pop up on Facebook flashbacks for the next 20 years, the sort of occasion that will be talked about on the sidelines and in the bleachers at games for years to come, the sort of achievement that could very well set the standard for the next generation of high school football teams here on the North Coast.

Because when St. Bernard’s and Del Norte both play in Friday night’s NorCal Regional playoffs, they’ll carry more than just the hopes, dreams and aspirations of their players, coaches and fans. They’ll be representing an entire league, and an entire community of football fans.

They’ll also be looking to secure a piece of history, and, if they can win, there appears to be a good chance one or both would get to host a state bowl game next weekend somewhere here on the North Coast, which would be a first ever for this community.

So why not this year?

And why not more success for the H-DNL, a league that prepares its teams for the playoffs with a physical, hard-hitting brand of old-school football played on grass in sometimes grueling conditions.

And a league that continues to establish itself as a force at the state level with five North Coast Section titles in five years, and a pair of state titles in the past four.

That’s impressive territory.

Bigger challenge

Of course, it all gets a little more difficult at this stage of the season, now that we’re down to the final few teams in California, and Friday night’s opponents will be among the most difficult both the Crusaders and Warriors have faced all year.

But you can be just as certain that both Del Norte and SB will represent one of the most difficult challenges their opponents have faced all year as well.

It should be another fascinating night of action, much like last weekend’s NCS championship night, with so much on the line all at the same time, and a legacy for the ages just waiting to be written.

The state playoffs are relatively new, so it’s difficult to compare the achievement of two local teams advancing to the NorCal Regionals in the same year for the first time ever to past achievements.

But it’s an impressive accomplishment by any standards in any era, and reaching a pair of state bowl games would, of course, be even more so.

History’s on the line this Friday night.

The sort of history all local fans would love to see.