Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com
By Ray Hamill — The Del Norte Warriors solidified their spot atop the rankings with another key win last weekend, comfortably getting the better of No. 2 St. Bernard’s.
A tough, physical SB team remains at No. 2 this week despite the loss, and the Crusaders have now twice played the Warriors tougher than anybody else.
Eureka and Arcata, meanwhile, both make a move this week after big victories last weekend.
The Loggers move up to No. 3 as they begin to show their potential, and this Saturday’s game at St. Bernard’s will be another pivotal one for Eureka.
The Tigers also move up one spot to No. 4 this week as they continue to cruise through the Little 4.
POWER RANKINGS
1 — Del Norte (6-1 overall, 4-0 in conference)
The Warriors are clearly the best team in the H-DNL and now also ranked No. 1 in NCS Division 5.
2 — St. Bernard’s (4-4, 2-2)
The Crusaders will be looking for a season sweep of Eureka on Saturday.
3 — Eureka (2-5, 1-3)
A big win for the Loggers last week — finally.
4 — Arcata (6-2, 4-0)
The Tigers have won six straight and can clinch the Little 4 outright with a victory over Mack this week.
5 — Fortuna (4-4, 1-3)
Injuries have taken their toll on a young Huskies team.
I think it is hilarious that people talk about the impacts to teams due to injuries like the above quote “Injuries have taken a tole on a young Huskies team”, when that team likely has anywhere from 30-more players. They also have a JV team.
Then you look at a team like St. Bernard with a total team number around the high teens at best and how they are being forced to play in a league with teams all in the 30-40 range with long established JV teams. This year is the first year that SB has had a JV team in over 4 years.
SB has players that are forced to play both ways while other teams in the league they are forced to play have enough players that they do not have to do that to play competitively.
This HDNL political ploy is incredibly biased and should not be allowed to continue. This is a joke, seriously a joke. Sports is about numbers, here are the numbers that form the foundation of any league…enrollment numbers, 2019-2020:.
Ferndale – 149 Del Norte – 900
Hoopa – 252 Arcata – 945
St Bernard – 156 Eureka – 1,138
South Fork – 209 McKinleyville – 614
Fortuna – 857
There is a reason they called them the Little 4 and Big 5! Do the right thing for these athletes competing for league titles.
Bill you are spot on. Political group of athletic directors dislike (names we all know) is the issue. Voted SB in the Big 4. So a team is well coached and works hard does well gets punished? I bet some of those voters get some sort of kick out of that as well. SB was extremely weak last year and still got the vote to Big 4. Arcata to be celebrated and now to jump in the rankings over Fortuna ???? 945 school size got destroyed by SB. Arcata should be in the Big 4 and they would be beat by Eureka/DelNorte/Fortuna. But for local hype and this writer put Arcata in the rankings and now leapfrogged Fortuna. You lose your credibility as a columnist. The real story is to go interview the voters and why they justify their vote. Arcata is building a nice program but matching up against the little 4 and then writing and celebrating their production. Then leapfrogged a superior program like Fortuna. Go look at the small schools and who they beat as well as their two losses (crushed).Go watch a game then put into perspective. No response would be applied by myself, but once you as a writer wants to “power rank” a team that puts up wins against schools 5-10 times smaller then put them in rankings with a larger superior league? Just shows the lack of credibility. Heck might as well put the AAA youth champs in the above Ferndale Hoopa and Mack.
Ray Hamill, Your work is appreciated by myself as well as many others.This one subject just is in question. Please go and investigate these voters….then write a story of your findings….responses or decline to respond..You might upset the powers to be but you would have much more respect from your readers who are educated on the football programs in HDNL.
Two points: SB seems to be doing quite well against the bigger schools. It seems that would be something to be proud of, not complain about!
Secondly, to my eye, Arcata IS a better team than Fortuna, this year.
Mr. A you are right, but just because a school is successful doesn’t mean they should be moved to a different league, a league where two of the four schools are 10 times as big enrollment wise. It is clear that league/divisions are based on size (enrollment). You do not base a league on record (wins and losses). This makes it as equitable as possible and fair for the athletes. It is why you have Division I, Division II, Division III, and NAIA in the NCAA.
I am sure people are proud of SB, but when it comes to league championships, and proceeding into the playoffs it makes it even more critical to be aligned in the correct league so you are allowed to compete fairly against teams of similar size. Making SB now play for league and go into playoffs competing against teams the size of Del Norte and Eureka is simply not accomplishing the goals of fair competitive sportsmanship!
I think Charles is correct in his comments above, I think it is political, and I think it is sad that adults have created this situation for the student athletes. Ray or some other local sports writer should determine just why this is being allowed to continue.