By Ray Hamill — Seven of the nine H-DNL football programs will field a JV team this fall, which is good news for the future of the game here on the North Coast.

Both Ferndale and St. Bernard’s will field full-time JV teams after a few hit-and-miss years for the two programs.

And both head coaches are delighted about that.

“We’re really excited to have a full JV team back,” St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin said. “We have a really talented freshmen class and we’re really excited about the future with that group of kids.”

Wildcats head coach Clint McClurg described having a JV team back in Ferndale as “huge.”

What it does is give these young players valuable game-time as they continue to develop, something you can’t replicate in practice.

And that means a lot of these young players will be more game-ready when they suit up at the varsity level a year or two from now.

McKinleyville head coach Fel Barlow is also excited about his JVs as he continues to build his program in his second year in charge.

The Panthers JVs kicked off their season with a nice 14-8 win over Eureka at Albee Stadium on Friday night.

The Ferndale JVs also got the new season off to a winning start with an impressive 27-0 victory at Fall River.

The Cats played well in all facets of the game, scoring two defensive TDs, one on special teams and one on offense.

The Fortuna JVs got off to a slow start at University and trailed by three TDs early, but they came storming back with three unanswered touchdowns to make a game of it, before ultimately falling 21-20.

The Del Norte JVs won their opener, defeating Kelseyville 14-9 in Crescent City.

The St. Bernard’s Crusaders dropped their opener at home to St. Vincent de Paul on Saturday, falling 42-21. 

Hoopa will also field a JV team this fall.