Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Tanner Pidgeon

By Ray Hamill — This week we recognize a pair of five-touchdown performances and a team that continues to dominate like few others here on the North Coast.

Our athletes and team of the week are sponsored as always by College of the Redwoods athletics.

Last weekend, the Ferndale Wildcats won a North Coast Section playoff game at St. Helena, beating a higher seed on the road to advance to this week’s Division-7 semifinals.

There were several standouts in the victory, but none more so than sophomore quarterback Tanner Pidgeon who continued his outstanding season with a performance he won’t easily forget.

Pidgeon, who is the Cats starting quarterback, was one of four sophomores to start for Ferndale and had as big an impact as any of his teammates, scoring five touchdowns.

And when you score five TDs in a single game, you get serious consideration for athlete of the week.

And speaking of that, Pidgeon wasn’t the only local quarterback to enjoy a five-TD day.

College of the Redwoods quarterback Max Hough also had a day to remember when he threw for five touchdowns in a 76-0 of Gavilan.

The sophomore tied one school record with his performance and broke another.

The five scoring passes gives him 39 career touchdown passes for his career, which is a new CR record.

He also tied a school record for most TD passes in a single game, a record he now holds with multiple other CR quarterbacks.

Our team of the week award, meanwhile, goes to the Arcata cross country team, which recently won both the boys and girls H-DNL championships at the Arcata Marsh.

Under the guidance of longtime legendary head coach James Washington, the Tigers continue to dominate H-DNL cross country.

Both Arcata teams will travel for the North Coast Section championships in Hayward this weekend.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Tanner Pidgeon

Ferndale Football, Sophomore

His teammates put him in position to succeed and Pidgeon did the rest, as the Wildcats rallied for a big playoff win at St. Helena.

The standout sophomore found the end zone five times to help lead his team back from a 13-6 halftime deficit with 35 unanswered points in the second half.

The Cats, who won the game 41-13, will now turn their attention to Friday night’s Division-7 semifinal at Clear Lake.

For more on Pidgeon’s big performance, see Wildcats overcome early deficits with big second half at St. Helena …

Max Hough

CR Football, Sophomore

Hough is enjoying an outstanding career at College of the Redwoods, ever since breaking into the starting lineup midway through last season.

He now has 39 career TD passes and he’s not done yet, with at least one more game against Siskiyous this weekend and a probable upcoming bowl game.

The former Fortuna Husky has come a long way in a short time at CR and has become a pivotal piece of a team that has now won 14 of its last 18 games.

For more on his big week, see Hough breaks CR touchdown record as Corsairs rout Gavilan …

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Arcata Cross Country

Washington has built a dynasty and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

The Tigers usually field the deepest of any team in the H-DNL and continually add all-stars to their lineup.

This year’s boys team has been led by Reece Thompson and Nathan Whitney, while freshman standout Bella DeCarli is setting the tone for the Arcata girls team.

The Tigers recently won both varsity team league championships, and for good measure they also dominated in the JV boys competition, where they had the top 11 finishers.