Submitted photos

The Ferndale Mustangs have been setting the standard in local youth football recently and that continued to be the case this fall.

On Sunday, the Mustangs won their third straight Six Rivers Youth Football Conference AAA championship, defeating Eureka Junior League Football 15-0 in the final at Albee Stadium.

And this one was perhaps the sweetest yet, completing an unbeaten season for the team.

It was also a competitive game between the best two local youth football teams this season.

“(Eureka) was a very good team, a very worthy opponent,” Ferndale head coach Nathan Coppini said. “And it was a dog fight in the mud.”

The game came down to two plays in particular, both fourth-down conversions.

The first of those came in the second quarter, when quarterback Julius Rojo connected with tight end Joshua Hindley on a 40-yard touchdown pass to break the deadlock.

The game remained in the balance until late, but the Mustangs would seal the win on a nine-yard Preston Killingsworth TD run in the fourth quarter, a score that was set up on a well-executed 35-yard reception by Cash Mobley on another key fourth-down conversion.

After the championship, Coppini paid tribute to his players, everyone of whom bought in from the first day of practice.

“This group of kids were very easy to coach,” the head coach said. “There was never any animosity. They were locked in from the very beginning. You need more than talent to win (a championship), especially to go undefeated.”

The championship was achieved with a total team effort.

“As the old saying goes, it’s amazing what you can accomplish when nobody cares who gets the credit,” the head coach added.

Killingsworth and Mobley both played pivotal roles in the win.

Mobley is a “hard-working role player who really stepped up when we needed him,” Coppini said, while adding of Killingsworth, “that was the hardest I’ve seen him run.”

Liam Bishop also ran the ball hard and gave the Mustangs a potent one-two punch in the offensive backfield alongside Killingsworth, while Rojo and Hindley were outstanding all season long.

Check out the two big fourth down conversions above …

“Josh is always blocking his butt off and he stepped up big when we needed him,” said Coppini, who also described Rojo as “probably the most gifted quarterback I’ve coached. He’s very composed and a tough kid.”

The key fourth-down conversions by Hindley and Mobley swung the game in the Mustangs’ favor, while Bishop also had a big day on defense and finished with a couple of sacks.

The championship continues a storied tradition in the Cream City.

On Friday night, Ferndale High School will compete for a 14th all-time North Coast Section championship in football and the Wildcats are one of the most successful programs in the entire section.

Not surprisingly, a few of the players who played a major role in the first of the Mustangs’ three straight AAA championships — Tanner Pidgeon, Ethan Weitzel and Prescott Langer — are playing key roles on this year’s high school team.

“Thats’ what our goal is, to keep this tradition going,” Coppini said. “Football is the lifeblood of Ferndale.”

Coppini and assistant coaches Travis Hardwick, Levi Buck and Jon Losa all played for legendary Ferndale coach Kim Jorgensen, who once again stopped by practice this week to speak to the young players, just as he did before last year’s championship game.

Submitted photo

“We model a lot of our practice and our whole structure after (coach Jorgensen),” Coppini said. “We all had him as a coach. He’s a brilliant football mind. And when’s he right down the road, not tapping into him would be crazy.”

The head coach also praised the contributions of his assistant coaches, who had their players ready to go against an athletic Eureka team that ran a spread offense.

According to Coppini, the most impressive thing about Sunday’s shutout win was the coverage in the secondary.

“I felt our coverage was phenomenal,” he said. “And we got pressure at key times.

“They played with grit. Ferndale teams always have grit. You can always count on that.”

The 2023 Mustangs also included Obadiah Gobel, Robert Rodoni, Jaxon-Stone Smith, Cayden Free, Bodey Swanson, Gary Robinson Jr., Waylon Shaw, Cade Renner, Justin Noga, Kasen Hardwick, Easton Essig, Thornton Oram, Derek Buehler, Rigel Hahner, Greyson Mathews, Orrin Kelly, Michael Stauffacher and Ryker Renner.