POWER RANKINGS — League leaders make a move

By barstoolfanatics on October 12, 2022 • ( Leave a comment )

Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The McKinleyville Panthers

By Ray Hamill — With the top two teams both on a bye last week and this week, there’s not much change at the top of our rankings.

There is, however, some movement in the top five this week after a particularly impressive showing for one team.

Del Norte remains No. 1 and the Warriors should be 100 percent healthy and back to full strength after their midseason break.

They kick off the Big 4 at Eureka next week.

And speaking of the Loggers, they had their scheduled game at Piedmont canceled last week after the 0-5 Highlanders reportedly dropped their program for the season.

Like Del Norte, Eureka has essentially a three-week break in between games before they match up against the high-flying Warriors again next week.

Del Norte won the first non-league meeting between them, 45-0.

St. Bernard’s remains No. 3 in our rankings after a huge 61-40 win at Guymon High School in Oklahoma.

The Crusaders are also getting healthy and building momentum as league play approaches.

They get a rematch this weekend with St. Vincent de Paul, a team that is 6-0 and beat them 33-7 on opening weekend.

The McKinleyville Panthers, meanwhile, move up one spot in our rankings this week, leapfrogging the Hoopa Warriors, whom them beat in a key Little 4 game on Friday night.

You get the feeling there are more twists and turns in store in the Little 4 over the final four weeks, but for now the Panthers are 2-0 and sit alone atop the standings.

Two teams outside our top five — Arcata and Fortuna — both also are coming off impressive wins over the weekend and appear to be trending in the right direction.