File photo – St. Bernard’s and Del Norte will play each other twice this fall.

By Ray Hamill — Are you ready for some football?

There are now just three weeks to go before the local high school football season kicks off, with the H-DNL teams reporting for official practice this coming week.

After seeing last season postponed until the spring and shortened to five weeks, all because of the pandemic, all nine H-DNL programs will compete in a full season this fall, including North Coast Section and state playoffs.

The season gets under way on Friday August 27, with several local teams in action, including some big matchups here on the North Coast.

Eureka opens at home to Foothill on opening night, while Fortuna hosts Justin Siena and Del Norte hosts Enterprise.

Also in action on opening weekend, Ferndale plays at Clear Lake, Hoopa plays at Weed, McKinleyville at Yreka and St. Bernard’s at St. Vincent de Paul.

One notable change in the scheduling this year sees the Big 4 teams play each other twice each instead of once.

Lots more on the H-DNL season here at Humboldt Sports in the coming weeks.