Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Isaak Kasso (12) has been named to the MaxPreps Small-Town All-State Team.

By Ray Hamill — A month after winning the school’s first-ever state championship in football, the accolades continue to mount for the Ferndale Wildcats.

And one player in particular.

On Thursday, the Wildcats were honored by MaxPreps as one of the top small-town teams in the state, while senior defensive back Issak Kasso was named to the inaugural MaxPreps Small-Town All-State team.

Kasso played a key role on the march to the state championship, which included four playoff road victories and three wins over higher seeds in the North Coast Section.

As a team, the Wildcats were ranked No. 12 in the state among small-town schools by MaxPreps.

The all-state small-town team includes 30 players “from schools with an enrollment under 1,000 students from towns with a population of under 10,000 citizens,” according to the website.

MaxPreps said of the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Kasso: “A spark plug as a receiver for the Class 7-AA champions, Kasso also had a number of interceptions during the year, including one for a 102-yard return and another in the state finals.”

He is one of just four DBs to receive the accolade.

The MaxPreps story, which can be accessed here, talks about how three small-town schools — Ferndale, Colusa and Strathmore — all defeated far larger schools in the state bowl games.

Ferndale, a school of under 200 students, beat Fairfax out of Los Angeles, a school of 2,000 students, in the 7-AA championship game by a score of 29-21.

The Wildcats memorably rallied from an early three-touchdown deficit to win the game.

The Del Norte Warriors were also included in the list of the top 25 small-town teams, coming in at No. 20.

Submitted photo – The Wildcats celebrate their state championship win last month.