Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Ukiah Wildcats will play at Eureka on Saturday night, one of three Mendocino schools traveling to Humboldt for games this weekend.

By Ray Hamill — County pride will be on the line this weekend, with three local football games featuring Mendocino versus Humboldt matchups.

On Friday night, Willits (0-1) travels to McKinleyville (1-1), while on Saturday, Fort Bragg (0-1) plays Hoopa (0-0) at St. Bernard’s in the afternoon, and Ukiah (0-2) plays at Eureka (0-0) under the lights that night.

Two of the Mendocino teams — Willits and Fort Bragg — feature young and inexperienced rosters this season after not playing a single down in the spring, but neither of them will back down from the challenge and both bring a tradition of playing hard-nosed football, much like the H-DNL teams.

“The best word I can use to describe our team is ‘green,’” Fort Bragg head coach Adam Dondanville said. “We’re real young. We have a lot of kids that haven’t played a lot of football.”

Likewise with the Wolverines, who feature just three seniors on a squad of roughly 20 players, but have a number of talented juniors who are expected to grow as the season goes on.

“It’s hard coming off a year where we didn’t get to play,” Willits head coach Brandon Norbury said. “But they’re excited to play, and we have potential. They’re just young.”

Fort Bragg opened the season with a 20-14 loss at home to Healdsburg two weeks ago, pushing the Greyhounds close despite their inexperience.

“We actually did better than I thought we would,” admitted Dondanville. “It was the first time many of them played a down of varsity football.”

Two players who the head coach will look to for some team leadership this season are senior quarterback Alec Villalpando, one of the few players on the roster with some varsity experience, and athletic running back Trevon Melhtan, a junior.

Dondanville also expects his team to battle, and he likes that aspect of their game.

“At least in the first game, they never quit,” he said. “They gave all they had and didn’t complain at all. They played their hearts out.”

‘True iron man football’

The Wolverines, meanwhile, kicked off their season with an 18-13 loss at Piner, traveling with eight players missing for various reasons, most of whom are now back with the team.

“It was true iron man football,” Norbury said.

The head coach is in just his third year with the team, but has quickly changed the culture within the program.

In 2019, the last time they played football, the Wolverines finished 8-4, while hosting and winning a playoff game for the first time in several years.

Making the state playoffs is now a goal for this Willits team.

“We always want to be in the playoffs, that’s the culture here,” Norbury said. “That’s where our head is. We have big goals, especially for a young team, and we want to go to state next year.”

Key to the team’s development this season will be a few players Norbury expects to lead the way, including talented senior CJ Powers.

Powers is back with the team this year after playing one season at Petaluma, and he is expected to play a major role for the Wolverines when he clears the transfer protocols later this month.

“He’s a monster on defense,” Norbury said of Powers, who can play multiple different positions on defense and also will line up at running back.

Juniors Trevor Wilson (lineman), Jadyn Arnold (FB/MLB) and Shaun Stockley (RB/DB) are also all expected to lead the way this fall.

“Trevor Wilson is 100 percent committed to the team. You couldn’t ask for a better player. He’ll do anything you ask,” the head coach said, while describing Arnold and Stockley as “studs.”

Tough matchups

Both Dondanville and Norbury expect tough but close matchups this weekend.

“We’re both small schools, I think we’ll battle back and forth,” Dondanville said of his team’s game against Hoopa. “And it will probably come down to one of those things, the bounce of a ball.

“We want to stay competitive, that’s the main thing. I hate losing, but if we can stay competitive, that’s all I can ask.”

Norbury also expects his team to be challenged this week.

“I know they’re going to be tough,” he said of the Panthers. “I know McKinleyville likes to run the ball. We definitely have to keep their quarterback (Jack Clancy) under control, and No. 32 (Connor Berg), their running back, he’s a stud.”

Friday night’s game is set for 7:30 p.m., with the Mack and Willits JVs playing at 5 p.m.

Saturday’s game between Fort Bragg and Hoopa is set for 1 p.m.

The Hoopa JVs will play St. Bernard’s beforehand.

Ukiah and Eureka meet at Albee Stadium on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., with the schools’ JV teams playing at 5.