Photo by Taunya Brunton – St. Bernard’s Bowdy Dunn in action on Friday night.

By Ray Hamill — It was a night North Coast football fans will never forget.

A night that reminded the rest of the Golden State that the H-DNL can hold its own well beyond the Redwood Curtain, and a night that reminded everyone on this side of it just how good the Big 4 is right now.

Next weekend, two of the conference’s four teams will compete for a state championship, after St. Bernard’s knocked off East Nicolaus 45-29 and Del Norte got the better of King’s Academy 21-14 in the NorCal Regional playoffs on Friday night.

It was the second straight week both of these North Coast squads have traveled to win tough road games in tough conditions against tough opponents to keep their season going in thrilling fashion.

And it’s a further statement of intent from a league that often is overlooked and under-appreciated, situated as it is here on the most northern fringes of the CIF.

Since 2015, the four current Big 4 teams are a combined 6-1 in state playoff games, and all four programs have reached the state playoffs at least once each.

The Crusaders got the party started in 2015 when they won a state title (competing in the Little 4 then), before the Fortuna Huskies added to the H-DNL’s tally in 2017 with another state championship.

Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Del Norte Warriors will play for a state championship in football for the first time ever next weekend.

In 2018, the Eureka Loggers qualified for the final four in state play in their bracket, and this year both St. Bernard’s and Del Norte are carrying on the recent tradition and giving the H-DNL two teams in a state championship game in the same year for the first time ever.

Even considering there are 13 state bowl games each year, it’s an impressive achievement for North Coast football.

Here are some numbers to consider.

Those 13 state bowl games feature 26 teams from a pool of 1,043 schools in California that are listed in the MaxPreps state rankings.

And for the Big 4 to have two of those 26 teams, that’s very impressive territory.

This recent good run also looks as if it could continue for a while.

All four programs feature very good coaching staffs with a winning culture firmly entrenched.

For some of these teams, getting through the Big 4 is the hardest part of their season, and the NCS playoffs can be a step down in competition.

The 2018 Fortuna team is a perfect example, after the Huskies finished 0-3 in the Big 4 and went on to dominate the top three seeds in their section, all on the road, on the way to a second straight NCS championship.

Photo by Taunya Brunton – Friday night was an occasion the St. Bernard’s players will remember for the rest of their lives.

If the NCS had not messed up the scheduling, the Huskies could very well have gone on to win a second straight state title that year, further solidifying the Big 4’s reputation, but they were denied that opportunity.

Next weekend, the conference will be rewarded for its recent success at the state level, when Del Norte and St. Bernard’s each get to host their state bowl games, which will be a first-ever state championship game played in either Humboldt or Del Norte county.

The prospect of two state championships for the North Coast in one season is now a distinct possibility and one that should have football fans here excited.

There’s no doubting the Big 4 is a force to be reckoned with in football.