POWER RANKINGS — Who is the best team in the H-DNL?

By barstoolfanatics on September 16, 2023 • ( 1 Comment )

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

By Ray Hamill — Fortuna and St. Bernard’s continued to look like the top two teams in the H-DNL this weekend.

Both won their fourth straight games to go to 4-0 on the season, with the Huskies rolling over rival Ferndale in the annual Milk Can game by a score of 37-6 and the Crusaders holding off a dangerous Arcata team for a 35-21 win on Saturday afternoon.

And that means there’s no change at the top in this week’s Humboldt Sports Power Rankings, with Fortuna holding onto the top spot, and St. Bernard’s right on the Huskies’ heels at No. 2.

The two schools will face off in league play next month, but for now we can only guess which is the better team.

The one common opponent they each have faced is Arcata, with Fortuna recording a more dominating win (34-0) than SB.

However, it’s also important to note that the Tigers arguably performed and executed far better against the Crusaders than they did against the Huskies.

St. Bernard’s has a bye next week, while Fortuna travels to play a Foothill team that is 1-2 after a 34-14 win over Lassen on Friday.

There also is no change at No. 3 in this week’s Power Rankings, with Del Norte holding steady.

The Warriors had a bye this weekend and remain 1-2 on the season, with their lone win coming against a 2-2 Lower Lake team and their two losses coming against quality Oregon programs.

They return to action next weekend when a struggling McKinleyville team comes to town.

There are no changes at the bottom of this week’s Power Rankings either.

No. 4 Arcata and No. 5 Ferndale both lost, but none of the other four H-DNL teams did much to make a case for themselves.

The Tigers, if anything strengthened their position with a good showing on the road against a very good St. Bernard’s team.

The Tigers are 2-2, but they’ve played well enough to suggest they will be the favorites going into league play in two weeks.

The Wildcats also should contend for the Little 4 title.

Both their losses this year have come against unbeaten teams (Fall River in overtime and Fortuna) and they have looked good in wins over South Fork and Fort Bragg (at least in the second half of the latter).

Both Arcata and Ferndale have byes next week before kicking off the Little 4 the following weekend at home to Hoopa and McKinleyville, respectively.